Ties That Bind
by LoveMeSomeJAM
Summary: My first angst story! An AU JAM fic that takes place three years after Jim leaves for Stamford. Imagine Casino Night never happened and Jim never told Pam how he felt. Here are the repercussions of that decision. Rated M for violence in some chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This idea came to me a couple weeks ago and just wouldn't go away so I thought I'd give it a try. My first angst story! This is an AU fic that takes place three years after Jim left Scranton. Basically, Casino Night never happened. Jim never got the courage to tell Pam how he felt and ended up transferring to Stamford because he couldn't deal with Pam marrying Roy.

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**Sunday, 11:05 p.m. – Back roads of Scranton**

**Jim Halpert was exhausted. He had spent the entire week in Scranton visiting his family. Ever since moving to Connecticut three years ago, he had started to feel disconnected from them. Luckily, with enough vacation time saved up, he had been able to come spend some quality time with his mom, dad, and sister. His brother Jon had even driven up for a few days. The time away from work was refreshing but at this moment, Jim felt like he had been working twenty-four hours straight. Taking a deep breath, he tried hard to hold his eyes open as he focused on the back roads that he had once known so well. **

**As he navigated the small town, Jim's eyes drifted over to the passenger's seat. The sight that lay before him brought a smile to his face. The woman in the seat next to him had already drifted off to sleep, her left hand, adorned with a white gold wedding set, rested protectively on her protruding stomach. At eight months pregnant, she was just as stubborn as she had always been, if not more so. Jim had tried to convince his wife that the drive would be uncomfortable for her and might not be a smart idea in case she went into labor. The original plan had been for Jim to visit his family in Scranton while she spent some quality time with her sister on Long Island. However, after several long hours of discussion, he realized she couldn't be dissuaded. Now, as he gazed at her sleeping face, he was grateful that she had convinced him to bring her with him instead of sending her to stay with her sister for a week. Even asleep, she still provided company on the otherwise boring drive back to Stamford. He gently brushed her long dark hair off her face and turned his attention back to the road. **

**At times like this, when Karen was asleep and Jim was alone with his thoughts, he thought back to a time three years ago when his world had revolved around the one person that he could never have. Being back in Scranton this week had brought back a flood of memories that he had tried to bury over the last few years. Even though he was happily married and was about to be a father, he still wondered what life would have been like if he had only taken a chance. As much as he loved Karen, and their unborn child, he still wondered if this was the life that was made for him all along, or if things would have been different had he only had the courage to put it all on the table.**

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**Sunday, 11:20 p.m. – Apartment complex in central Scranton**

**Pam Beesly-Anderson was wide awake. She had spent the last hour with the telephone in her lap, trying desperately to get a hold of her husband. Roy had said he would be going out with some of the guys after work but he had promised to be home by nine. Now, at almost two and a half hours past the deadline, Pam was starting to get worried. She had already called Poor Richards to see if Roy was there but the bartender insisted that he wasn't. Darryl wasn't answering his phone and Pam didn't know any of the other guy's numbers. **

**Sighing to herself in resignation, she padded to the kitchen and began busying herself with making tea. As she ran the water into the teapot, she began to wonder why she was even surprised anymore. Three years ago, she had thought that marrying Roy would be the answer to all of her problems. **

**She had thought that if they were married, Roy would have to stop running off and leaving her at home night after night, wondering where he was. **

**She had thought that he would finally focus his attention on her and be the guy that she had fallen in love with all those years ago. **

**She had thought wrong.**

**The day they got back from their honeymoon, Roy had gone out with his buddies and hadn't returned home until 5:00 the next morning. From that point on, Pam knew that she had been hoping for the impossible.**

**It was times like this that she thought back to the days when things were different. Days when she would look up from her desk and be met with a mischievous look and a glance toward Dwight. Days when they would sit in the break room and talk about their weekends. And even though the topic of conversation was meaningless, the conversation itself was full of meaning. Days when she had the slightest hope that maybe, just maybe, all of her dreams _could _come true. **

**Now, she was still at the exact same point she had been three years ago: a receptionist at a failing paper company. The only difference was the circle of gold on her left hand. As she sipped her tea, she began to wonder what her life would have been like if she had only made a few different choices. She was jerked from her thought process by the shrill ringing of their home phone. Jumping up from the table, she grabbed the phone off the kitchen counter.**

"**Roy?!" she answered quickly.**

"**Um, hi, is this Mrs. Anderson?" an unfamiliar voice responded back.**

"**Yes it is. Who's this?"**

"**My name is Jennifer. I'm with Scranton Memorial Hospital. I was calling to let you know that we have a patient that was just brought in by the name of Roy Anderson. This was listed as his emergency contact number. Are you his wife?"**

**Pam stared with shock at the phone. Roy was at the hospital? What could have happened? A million thoughts began to race through her mind. **

"**Ma'am? Are you still there?" the voice on the other end of the line piped up again.**

"**Yes, yes, I'm here. And yes, I am his wife. What happened? Is Roy alright?"**

"**There was a car accident ma'am. I'm afraid I don't know any more than that right now."**

"**I'm on my way!"**

**Pam slammed the phone back on the counter, snatched her keys and purse off the table and ran out the door, praying that Roy was okay.**

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A/N: Dun Dun Dun! The infamous cliffhanger! I don't have any more written yet but I know where it's going so I'll try to get it posted ASAP! Reviews are love! This is my first angst and AU story so I really would love some feedback on it!

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	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! I really appreciate it! This chapter isn't very long but it's setting up the next chapter. Enjoy!

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Pam reached the hospital in record time. As she ran toward the doors of the ER, all of her emotions began to run together, causing her to burst into a fit of tears. As she approached the admittance desk, she did her best to pull herself together and managed to squeak out. "Roy Anderson's wife."

The woman behind the desk nodded in realization. "Yes, Mrs. Anderson. The doctor is in with your husband right now. I'll take you to the waiting room and the doctor will be in to talk with you momentarily."

The nurse led Pam down the sterile hallway into a small room with brochures about coping with loss and depression strewn on the end tables. Offering the woman a small smile, Pam took a seat in one of the chairs in the room. Once the nurse was gone, Pam let her tears flow freely again. "How can this be happening?" she asked herself. "Surely Roy is okay. He has to be."

A few moments later, Pam lifted her head to the sound of the door opening and closing. A man in a long white coat stood in front of her and offered his hand. "Mrs. Anderson?" he asked.

Pam shook his hand lightly and nodded in confirmation, afraid if she spoke she would burst into tears again.

"Well, I was just in with your husband. He has a concussion and his left arm is broken, but he should be just fine, physically at least," the doctor commented.

"What do you mean?" Pam responded.

"Mrs. Anderson, your husband's alcohol level was over three times the legal limit. The police estimate he was going at least 20 miles over the speed limit. He ran a stop sign and collided with another car. Apparently, he tried to swerve after that and slammed into a light pole. The passenger in the truck with your husband was killed on impact and the woman in the other car is in serious condition."

Pam sank back in her chair, shock evident on her face. "Oh my god! I knew he was out at the bar with the guys but I had no idea…wait, you said the passenger in _his_ truck was killed?"

"Yes ma'am. A young woman, about 25. Sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, about 5'4" and 120 pounds. Anybody you know?"

A sick feeling sunk in Pam's stomach. Roy had been out with another woman. And not only that, but he had stupidly been driving drunk with her in the car. "No. It doesn't sound like anybody I know. Do you know who she is?"

The doctor shook his head. "She didn't have an ID on her. We were hoping you or your husband could identify her."

"I'm sorry. I don't know who it could be. I could take a look if you'd like but I doubt I'll know who she is."

"That's alright, Mrs. Anderson. You've been through a lot tonight. The police are in there with him right now. Hopefully he can give us an ID on the woman so we can contact her family."

"Can I go see him?" Pam asked, fighting back the tears that threatened her eyes.

"Sure. I'll take you to his room." The doctor stood up and led Pam back down the hallway toward a collection of patient rooms. Once they were outside the door, the doctor nodded and began to walk away.

"Excuse me…" Pam said, reaching out to grab the doctor's arm before he left. "You said the woman in the other car was in serious condition. Is she going to…" Pam's voice trailed off, leaving the unasked question lingering between them.

"I really can't tell you ma'am. Confidentiality purposes. Her husband is getting stitched up right now. He had some pretty severe lacerations that we had to take care of but he should be okay. You can talk to him later if you'd like."

Pam nodded and thanked the doctor before slipping into Roy's room.

"Pammy!" he exclaimed once he saw her.

Pam scowled at her husband and turned her attention to the two police officers standing in the room. "I'm sorry but would you mind if I spoke to my husband alone for a moment?" she asked.

"In just a minute. We actually need to speak to you first. Could you step out in the hallway please?"

Pam nodded curiously and followed one of the officers into the hall. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Mrs. Anderson, I'm not going to lie to you. Things are not looking good for your husband. He's already looking at one count of vehicular homicide and possibly two more before all is said and done. I think it would be in your best interest to not advise him on anything in case he decides to make a break for it. The last thing you want right now is to be considered an accomplice. He's been threatening to make a break for it from the second we walked in the room. We will have a security guard posted outside his door at all times until he is released and then he's being hauled off to jail. If he disappears, you'll be the first person we come talking to. Do you understand?"

Pam looked the officer square in the eyes. "Trust me, officer. You have nothing to worry about. I want Roy to pay for his crime as much as the next person. I just can't believe he would do something this stupid!"

The police officer nodded and began to turn back toward the room.

"Wait!" Pam exclaimed, causing the officer to turn back around. "You said Roy was possibly looking at two more counts of vehicular homicide. The doctor said the man in the other car was going to be okay but the woman was in bad shape. Was there someone else in the car?"

The officer's face fell as he gently whispered, "The woman in the other car was pregnant. If neither she nor the baby survive, your husband is responsible."

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A/N: Reviews are very appreciated! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Super short chapter here. I just needed to wrap up this part of the story. Next chapter will be Jim's POV. You might consider Pam a little OOC in this chapter but I look at it as a woman at the end of her rope. Enjoy!

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Pam was left reeling at the officer's words. In one night her entire world had been turned upside down. Not only had Roy been cheating on her, but now he was responsible for a person's death. And if the woman and her baby didn't make it, Roy would be in even worse trouble. He was a cheater and a murderer. Pam felt her knees start to tremble and leaned against the wall for support.

"Are you ok ma'am?" the officer asked her as he gently grabbed her elbow.

"Yeah. I just need a minute," Pam choked out, barely above a whisper.

The officer nodded and disappeared back into Roy's room. He returned a few moments later with his partner in tow, promising Pam that they would stay outside the door until the security guard arrived. Taking a deep breath, Pam slipped into the room for a second time, prepared for the fight of her life.

"How could you?" she asked through narrowed eyes and gritted teeth.

"Pammy, I'm sorry. Look, the guys and I…"

"Cut the crap Roy! I know you weren't at the bar! I called and they said you weren't there!"

"No! I was there! I promise. Pammy…"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Pam was clenching her fists so tightly, her knuckles were turning white. "It's bad enough that you were out with another woman but then to turn around and lie about it…you're pathetic! And on top of everything else, because of you that poor woman, who obviously couldn't see through your lies either, is dead! How do you feel about that Roy? You killed someone!"

"It was an accident. We were laughing and I wasn't paying attention and I ran the stop sign."

"And you were drunk! You've driven that road thousands of times! You knew that stop sign was there! You were just too drunk to pay attention. Do you realize the woman in the car you hit was pregnant? She could lose her child because of your selfishness!"

"Yeah, well you know all about that now don't you Pammy?"

Roy's words cut like a knife through Pam's soul. She had tried so hard to push that memory out of her mind. The pain of it all had been too much to bear so Pam had taken to removing every possible thing that could remind her of what could have been. The child she had lost. Pam had been six months pregnant when she had gone out with her sisters for a night on the town. They had planned to have dinner, go out to a few of the town's hot spots and spend the evening in a hotel. Roy had been adamant that she was being selfish by leaving him at home all night while she went out having fun. However, Pam felt no guilt at all considering Roy did it to her all the time. It was nice to get out and have fun for a change. Sadly, that night had been far from fun. While walking through downtown Scranton, a man who had just been caught shoplifting from the convenience store had shoved into Pam in his quest to get away. The force sent her colliding hard with a park bench, straight into her stomach. Pam sank to the ground and passed out from the excruciating pain. She had awakened hours later to the doctor and Roy standing over her, telling her that she had suffered a miscarriage. A few days later, in one of his drunken tirades, Roy had blatantly blamed Pam for all of it. Ever since then, the guilt had weighed on Pam's heart like an anvil. Every time Roy would get really drunk and throw it back in her face, the guilt became heavier and heavier.

At this moment, Pam knew that she could no longer let Roy control her life. She had to get away. "You really are a sorry excuse for a human being," she responded, her face and voice devoid of any emotion. "This is over. And I hope you rot in Hell for everything you've done!" Pam jerked her wedding ring from her left hand and threw it with as much force as she could muster. "Goodbye Roy."

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A/N: I know that was short and probably not as good as it could have been but I didn't want to drag it out. Reviews are love! Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long! I was in Florida all weekend and I've had crazy shifts at work this week. Just finished tonight! This chapter starts Jim's POV.

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Jim had just awakened when he heard a familiar voice at his side. "Jim? Hey sweetie! Are you okay?" A hand was gently stroking his hair.

Confusion hit him as soon as he opened his eyes. Where was he? Why was this room so bright? Why did he feel like he had just run his head into a brick wall? And more importantly, where was Karen?

Jim blinked his eyes a few times, trying to focus on the figure at his bedside. The only thing he could see at first was the light brown hair of the woman that was holding his hand. After a few moments, the details of her face became apparent.

"Mom?" he managed to choke out. His throat felt extremely dry and the rest of the room was still hazy.

"Hey sweetie. You really had me scared there! I was afraid we had lost you." Larissa Halpert was leaning over her youngest son, trying hard to keep rein on her emotions.

"_Lost me?"_ Jim asked himself. "_Why?"_ Suddenly he remembered he had been driving back to Stamford with Karen. Karen had been asleep. There had been a crash. Everything else was a blur. What had happened? Did he fall asleep at the wheel? Was Karen ok? Did they hit another car?

Jim tried to respond but his voice wasn't cooperating. He managed to get out one word. "Karen?"

The fear on his mother's face terrified Jim. "_No! She has to be alright_!" he thought to himself. Without a thought, Jim tried to get out of bed. He needed to see his wife. Now!

"Jim! Honey! No! Get back in bed!" Larissa directed him. She then turned toward her husband who was on the other side of Jim's bed. "Go get a doctor."

Jim tried hard to fight against his mother's tight hold on him but he was still too weak to put up much of a fight. He made another attempt to ask about Karen but his scratchy throat was still posing a problem. "Water," he managed, barely above a whisper.

Larissa nodded and grabbed the pitcher of water from the bedside table. She poured a small amount into a plastic cup and placed a straw to Jim's lips. Jim eagerly sucked down the water, feeling as if he hadn't had anything to drink in weeks. Once he reached his third cup of water, Jim's voice began to feel a little more confident. "How is Karen?" he asked again, searching his mother's eyes for hope.

"Oh, you know I'm no good with medical stuff," she responded, trying hard to keep the emotion out of her voice. "Why don't you wait 'til the doctor gets in here? I'm sure he can explain everything better than I can."

"Mom?" Jim's voice was beginning to break. He was afraid he already knew the answer to his question. "What is it you're not telling me?"

Larissa was saved by the doctor making his way into the room with Jim's father, Eric, hot on his heels.

"Well, Mr. Halpert, it's nice to finally meet you. I was just taking a look at your CT scan and it appears you have quite a severe concussion. However, aside from some pretty major lacerations, you should be good as new in a few days," the doctor reported.

"And my wife?" Jim asked. "How is she?"

The doctor's face fell and Jim was afraid he wouldn't like the answer to his question.

"Your wife is in very serious condition. The impact of the collision was on her side of the vehicle. She had some major internal bleeding, which we were able to repair. However, she also suffered some severe head trauma. The next 24 hours are critical to whether or not she survives."

Jim sank back into the bed in disbelief. The life of his wife, his Karen, was hanging in the balance and here he was, powerless to do anything about it. "And the baby? How is the baby?"

"Well, it seems your child has a guardian angel. The baby is doing very well considering the circumstances. I do have some concerns though. We're monitoring things very closely."

Jim breathed a small sigh of relief. Their child was ok! "What concerns do you have?" he asked the doctor.

"Well, currently, your wife is on a ventilator. If her condition doesn't improve soon, the machine will be the only thing keeping her alive. We have the option of keeping her on the ventilator for another few weeks to give the baby some extra time to finish developing. However, there are always risks involved with that route. Our other option would be to take the baby now and hope for the best. Considering your wife is eight months along, I'm optimistic but I can't say for sure. Either way, the risks are there. I just want to make you aware of the options in case it comes down to that. Do you have any questions?"

Tears were now rolling down Jim's face. Not only might he lose his wife, but their child too. "This is a lot to take in," Jim choked out through his tears. "Can I have a minute alone?"

The doctor nodded. "Take all the time you need. I'll let you know if there are any changes."

"We'll be down in the cafeteria honey. Just send somebody to get us whenever you're ready," Larissa told her son, taking his head in her hands and kissing him lightly on the forehead.

Once Jim was alone with his thoughts, he let his tears flow freely. Why had he let Karen come on this trip? Why hadn't he paid closer attention at that intersection? Unanswered questions poured through his mind, causing his head to spin. "_I need to see her," _he thought to himself. "_Maybe if she knows I'm here, she'll pull through."_

Jim grabbed the IV pole and began making his way to the door. He was stopped further down the hallway by a passing nurse. "Mr. Halpert, you're not supposed to be out of your room. Let's get you back to bed."

Jim shook his head emphatically. "No! Please! I need to see my wife! Please!"

The nurse looked at him sympathetically, obviously aware of the situation. "Please go back to your room and I will talk to your doctor about arranging to have you brought to see her. Deal?"

Jim was in no mood to argue with the nurse, who obviously wasn't going to let him get too far. He nodded in resignation and returned to his room.

A few minutes later, another nurse appeared in the room with a wheelchair. "Ready to go see your wife, Mr. Halpert?"

Jim nodded and slid off the bed. "Do I really have to use that thing?" he asked, tilting his head toward the wheelchair.

"Hospital policy," the nurse said with a nod.

Reluctantly, Jim sat in the chair and allowed the nurse to wheel him down the maze of hallways. Once they reached the door to Karen's room, the nurse locked the brakes on the wheelchair and helped Jim up. "Just page the nurse when you're ready to go back to your room," she informed him before wheeling the chair off down the hallway. Jim took a deep breath and placed his hand on the doorknob, preparing himself for what lay on the other side. As he slipped through the door, his heart broke at the sight that lay before him. His wife, the woman he had shared everything with, was lying completely still in a hospital bed. Wires and tubes surrounded her. Fighting back his tears, Jim silently crossed the room to Karen's bedside. The majority of the right side of her face was covered with a large bandage, leaving just enough uncovered to see her severely blacked eye. A large cast on her right leg indicated a broken leg while her right arm was secured in a sling. Jim pulled a chair up next to the bed and took Karen's hand in his own, resting his other hand on her stomach.

"Hey honey," he said, as he gently grazed his thumb over her knuckles. "I'm here."

Jim had never been good with words. Too often people had mistaken his lack of words to be an act of disinterest or boredom. The truth was, most of the time, he just didn't know what to say. This was one of those times. So he said the only thing he could think of.

"I love you," he whispered as he kissed her lightly on the forehead.

As Jim went to sit down, a loud beeping noise startled him back to his feet. He whirled around to see one of the machines flashing furiously. Just then, a crowd of nurses and doctors swarmed the room, pushing him away from the bed. "No!" he exclaimed. "This can't be happening! Do something!"

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A/N: Ok, so this is where I leave things up to you guys. I have two directions this story can go and I honestly don't care either way. Whatever gets the biggest majority of votes is the direction I'll go. Basically, I need you guys to tell me if you want Karen to make it or not. Her fate is in your hands. Choose wisely! Reviews are appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Wow! Thanks so much for all the reviews! I'm glad you guys like the story! Well, I asked for opinions and you guys delivered so here it is: In the words of Jim I'm going to "give the people what they want" **

**  
Now onto the reviewers:  
Dancer-Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'll take that into consideration  
Wonder-Wow...tell me how you really feel about her LoL!  
Jayme-Tough decision huh? Now you see why I asked you guys to help?**  
**Tophet-I agree. I really started to like Karen's character after the initial "I hate her" instinct wore off. Thanks for the compliment!  
Gummy-That's the exact same problem I was having. Don't worry...I'll try my hardest to make it believable whichever way it goes.  
JimPam-That's kind of the direction I was leaning in anyway. I just wanted to make sure other people liked the idea. We'll see! Glad you're enjoying it!  
Ktface- Wow! Thanks a lot! I tried to make it a bittersweet moment. Thanks for the feedback  
Camella-Haha! Not a Karen fan are we? Thanks for the compliment!  
Mooney-Thanks! Your wish is my command...**

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Jim sat anxiously in the tiny waiting room, his long legs bouncing up and down with nervousness. His mom and dad sat directly across from him, watching their youngest son trying not to self-destruct. Over forty minutes ago he had been forced out of Karen's room by the doctors. They had followed less than two minutes later, wheeling Karen on a gurney toward Labor & Delivery. One of the doctors had led Jim to this small waiting room and explained the situation. Karen was taking a turn for the worse and the only way to save the baby was to perform an emergency c-section. Jim had tried to object, telling the doctor that the baby needed more time. The doctor had explained Karen's condition as delicately as he could.

"Mr. Halpert, I'm not going to lie to you. A little while ago, I was skeptical about your wife's chances for survival but I had some hope that with a little time her condition might improve. However, after resuscitating her from this last episode, it was apparent that she's hanging on by a thread. I'm actually surprised we were able to bring her back. I'm afraid that if we risk waiting any longer we'll lose both of them."

Jim nodded, trying to comprehend everything the doctor was telling him. "So you're telling me that my wife, the woman I love, is in there fighting for her life and there's nothing you can do to help her?" he asked angrily.

"We're doing everything we can for her, Mr. Halpert. Your wife is definitely a fighter. And I can see that you love her very much. Maybe that's all she needs to pull through. I just wanted to make you aware of the situation so that you can better prepare yourself for the possible outcome. Would you like me to have one of the nurses go locate your family? I think it'll be easier on you if they're here waiting with you."

Again, Jim nodded his head. "Can I go in and see her really fast before they get started? There's just something I have to say."

The doctor looked as if he wanted to object, but one look at the forlorn expression on Jim's face made him change his answer. "Quickly!" he said, leading Jim into the room where Karen was.

Jim made his way over to the side of her bed once again and brushed his hand gently over her hair. "Hey Karen. It's me. I just want you to know that I'll be right here waiting for you when this is over and we're going to celebrate having a beautiful son or daughter. And I have to say, the doctor's right. You're a fighter. You have to be alright. I can't take care of a child on my own. I need you by my side." Jim tried hard to work a teasing tone into his voice. "You see, we promised for better or for worse and this is definitely leaning toward worse. And this is no time to be breaking promises." He kissed her one last time before he felt one of the nurses lay her hand gently on his arm. "I love you honey," he whispered to Karen, before turning to face the nurse.

"Mr. Halpert, we need to get started. Let me take you back to the waiting room."

Now, as he sat here waiting, he wondered how this could have happened. He still wasn't aware of the details of the accident. All he knew was that a car had slammed into the passenger's side of his car at a high rate of speed. With everything going on with Karen, he hadn't thought to ask.

As if on cue, his mother began to speak. "I just can't believe all of this is happening. And the worst part is that it could have all been prevented."

"Wait…what?" Jim asked. "What do you mean by it could have been prevented?"

"The doctor's didn't tell you what happened?" his father jumped in.

"No. I mean, with everything going on with Karen, I hadn't really thought about it. What exactly happened?"

Jim watched his parent's exchange nervous glances before Larissa began to tell the story. "Apparently, the man driving the truck that hit you was severely intoxicated. He ran the stop sign and slammed into your car. He then swerved into a light pole, killing the passenger in the truck with him."

"And the driver? How is he?" Jim asked through gritted teeth.

"Just cuts and bruises from what I've heard," Larissa answered her son, placing a comforting hand on his knee.

"Of course. The lives of my wife and child are hanging in the balance, another woman has lost her life, and that bastard is walking away without a scratch!" Jim punched the palm of his hand for emphasis. "This is so not fair! Why do the creeps of this world always seem to get away with everything?"

Larissa knew her son better than anyone. She knew there was nothing she could say to soothe the pain Jim was feeling at this moment. She did the only thing she could think of. She sat in the chair next to her son and pulled him into her arms, gently stroking his hair like she had when he was a little boy that had just fallen off his bike. Jim could feel the tears rolling down his face, landing on his mother's shoulder as she tried her best to comfort him. At the sound of a new voice in the room, Jim jumped away from his mother and looked up to see the doctor standing in front of them.

The doctor seemed nervous. Jim could sense something was wrong as he watched the doctor pull a chair up in front of him. "Mr. Halpert, I want to be the first to congratulate you. You have a beautiful baby girl. The nurses are getting her cleaned up right now. She's doing great. Ten little fingers and ten little toes. "

Jim could feel a huge burden lift from his shoulders. "I have a daughter," he choked out. "I'm a father." He glanced over at his mother to see the proud smile on her face as she gave him a quick squeeze. His father was also beaming with pride. In this quiet moment, he was terrified to ask the question that lingered on his mind. "And Karen?"

Jim watched as the doctor quickly broke eye contact and began staring at his tightly clasped hands. In that instant he knew the truth.

After a deep breath, the doctor looked Jim in the eyes once more. "There were complications during the c-section. The internal bleeding from the accident caused us some problems. We got the baby out as fast as we could but your wife lost a lot of blood. We did everything we could but unfortunately, it wasn't enough. I'm sorry Mr. Halpert. We lost her."

Jim literally felt as though his heart had stopped beating. "No! No! She…she has to be alright! I can't…I can't…" Jim broke down into near hysterics as his mother tightened her embrace.

The doctor spoke once again. "I'm so very sorry, sir. I'm going to go check on your daughter for a minute. I'll let you know when you can see her."

Jim felt the doctor squeeze his shoulder lightly as he left the room. A flurry of emotions clouded his mind. Elation that his daughter was okay mixed with the heartbreak of losing his wife. "What am I going to do?" he asked no one in particular.

For the next few minutes, Jim sat in stunned silence, listening to his mom and dad talking but not really hearing them. Karen was gone. He had planned on spending the rest of his life with her, having children with her, growing old with her. They had so many plans. They had talked about family vacations to Disney World and Christmases with the grandparents. They had dreamed about everything from what their child would look like to what college they would go to. Now, those plans were over. He had lost the most important thing in his world. It wasn't until a nurse entered the room that Jim refocused on the present.

"Mr. Halpert?" the nurse said quietly.

Jim looked up to see the woman holding a tiny pink bundle in her arms.

"Meet your daughter, Mr. Halpert." The nurse smiled as she handed the baby over to Jim.

Jim gazed in awe at the tiny person that lay nestled in his arms. She was the most beautiful thing Jim had ever seen. As he held his precious little girl, his parents gathered around to take their first look at their granddaughter.

"She's beautiful," Larissa whispered, her eyes growing misty at the sight of her youngest son holding his newborn daughter.

"I would have to agree. She's definitely a beauty," Eric nodded, clapping his son gently on the back. "I'm proud of you son."

Jim stole a glance at his dad and offered a small smile. "Thanks Dad. I just can't believe I'm a father. Now that she's here, I'm not sure I can do this."

"Don't be ridiculous, boy! You're a Halpert! We can do anything we set our minds to! And this little girl here deserves the best of everything life has to offer. After all, she fought hard to get here. It's only fair that she has the best." Eric smiled at his son before looking back down at the new apple of his eye.

Jim nodded in agreement. "You're right, Dad. She does deserve the best. And I'm going to make sure she gets it." Jim gently stroked his finger across her tiny hand. As he did, she curled her five fingers around his one. He knew then that not only did this little hand have a grip on his finger, but a grip on his heart that would never let go.

* * *

**A/N: I know you're probably all wondering when Jim and Pam are going to reunite. Truth is...I don't even know. LoL! Don't worry though. It won't be too much longer! Should be in the next chapter or the one after. Keep the reviews coming! They make me smile! Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This chapter starts with Jim's POV and switches over to Pam's near the end. The next couple of chapters will probably be like that as I try to capture both sides of the story. I'm concerned I was getting a little OOC with Jim so I tried to bring a little bit of the Jim we all know and love into this chapter. I don't want to revert back to old Jim too much just yet because, as pointed out by one of my loyal reviewers, Jim wasn't really himself with Karen. So, hopefully I'll be able to pull out more of fun Jim in later chapters. Just so everyone knows, my stories are completely un-beta-ed (however you would spell that! LoL) so, if anyone has any suggestions PLEASE let me know. I would really appreciate it! On to the reviews:

Jayme-Of course! We all love a Halpert baby! I tried not to make it too depressing. Mostly because I'm used to writing fluff. I was going for the bittersweet angle. Thanks for the review.  
wonderworm-I couldn't agree more! Karen really did kill Jim's spirit but I don't think she was a bad person. I'm still on the fence about whether I'd say I liked her or not. LoL!  
Gummy- Thanks so much! Here you go!  
ktface-Sorry! I'll reimburse you for the Kleenex! LoL! Thanks for the idea! I'm not sure if I'll be able to use it in this chapter but keep them coming!  
Moony-Thanks! That's kind of what I wanted to come across in this story. I think Jim would have been happy with Karen but his heart would always belong to Pam in a way.  
Camella-You crack me up with your Karen comments! She's not really THAT bad is she? LoL! And it's funny that you mentioned Jim rejoicing his daughter. Read this chapter and you'll see why  
Abyssion-Thanks for the compliment on Pam's character! I guess because I identify with her really well, it's easy to write her. Jim's easy to identify with when he's in a normal situation but in this one it's a little more difficult. I'm glad you think I'm doing him justice. If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know!  
Tophet-Well, you'll get a taste of it in the next chapter but it'll take a couple chapters to get the full effect. Glad you enjoy it!

* * *

A few hours later, Jim was back in his hospital bed, exhausted from the day's events. Now that he was finally really alone with his thoughts, he allowed all of his emotions to wash over him. The bittersweet memories of this day he knew would be with him forever. Every time he looked at his little girl, he fell in love all over again. She had his nose, definitely.

"_Poor kid," he had told his parents at one point, trying to lighten the somber mood of the room. They had smiled politely as they continued to admire their new granddaughter. She had been passed around the room more than once, allowing everyone to have a chance at holding her, including Jim's sister Emily, who had arrived at the hospital a few minutes after the baby was born. _

"_So do we have a name for this little princess yet?" Larissa asked her son as he cradled the sleeping baby in his arms. _

_Jim nodded. "Everyone meet Abigail Karen Halpert," he said proudly. "Karen loved the name Abigail, even though I was never crazy about it. She even went so far as to look up the meaning to try and convince me. Now that I've met her, I have to agree…there's no better way to describe her."_

"_What does it mean?" Emily asked. _

"_It means 'rejoicing father'," Jim answered quietly, gazing at the sleeping child in his arms. "And even though this day was far from anything to rejoice about. She's definitely something to rejoice over."_

"_I couldn't agree more," Eric said, nodding in approval. _

"_Well, Miss Abigail," Larissa directed at the baby, "why don't you come see Grandma for a little while and let your Daddy get some rest?"_

Once Abigail had been taken back to the nursery, Jim's family had decided to leave for the night to let him get some rest. Now, lying here in the quiet, the realization of all that had happened finally reached him. Karen, the one constant pillar of support in his life, was gone. When Jim had been in doubt over his career, it was Karen who had convinced him to apply for the job at corporate. Even though he hadn't gotten the job, Jim was still proud of himself for trying. Karen had been equally proud of him, taking him to a celebratory dinner just because he'd had the courage to give it a shot. When he had moved to Stamford and felt as if his life was crumbling right under his feet, she had kept him on solid ground. She had showed him that love really could exist outside of a tiny office in Scranton. Sure, Jim had still been hurting over everything that was happening in Scranton and nothing, not even Karen, had been able to make him forget it. However, she had helped to ease his pain and even understood when he had wanted to take things slowly. The first day he saw her in the Stamford office, he's barely given her a second look, instead focusing on allowing himself to forget all that he had left behind. However, she had slowly worked her way into his life and ultimately, his heart. That was the thing that surprised him the most. Even though he had left a huge chunk of his heart in Scranton, there was still enough left to let him fall in love again. Now, sitting alone in this hospital bed, his one wish was to be able to hold her in his arms one more time and tell her he loved her. Leaning back against the pillow, Jim closed his eyes and began to talk, hoping that maybe his words might get higher than the ceiling.

"Karen, I just want you to know that I'll always love you. And I promise you that I'll take care of Abby with every bit of strength I have. You don't mind if I call her Abby do you? It's just easier to say, and after all, I did go with the name you chose. Maybe it's a good thing we didn't have a boy. I don't think I could bring myself to name a child Liam. Not that there's anything wrong with it. I just hate it. I'm not even going to ask what you were thinking when you came up with that one. But anyway, I hope you can see her from wherever you are. She's beautiful. Just promise me you'll look out for us, okay? I don't know how I'm going to raise a child, let alone a girl, on my own. Just make sure you let me know if I'm screwing up too badly," Jim blinked back a few stray tears as he finished his one-sided conversation. "I'm gonna miss you honey. And I promise Abby is going to know just how amazing her mother was. You have my word."

Jim should have had no problems falling asleep considering the kind of day he had lived through. However, sleep was doing its best to evade him. After a few hours of tossing and turning in the uncomfortable hospital bed, Jim decided he needed to take a walk. He slipped out of his room and made his way down the long corridors. Absentmindedly, he wandered onto the elevator and pressed the button for the second floor, the maternity floor. It didn't take Jim long to locate the nursery window. As he scanned over the tiny bassinets, his eyes finally found the one he was looking for. The card on her bassinet read "Abigail K. Halpert", a copy of her hand and foot prints attached to the side. Jim smiled with pride as he watched his little girl sleep. Even in a time as despairing as this, she was the one steady and true thing in his life.

* * *

Ever since she had stormed out of Roy's room, Pam had been walking in circles. She was sure that everyone in the hospital was beginning to think she was crazy. She would turn right at every corner, walking absentmindedly, just trying to clear her head. Finally, after several laps around the floor, Pam had gone to the nurses' station to try to get some more information on the people in the other car. She wanted to know if the woman and her baby were okay. However, due to confidentiality concerns, no one could tell her anything. Finally, Pam decided she'd just try to locate them on her own. She knew where the maternity floor was but she dreaded the idea of going up there. Too many bad memories surrounded that part of the hospital. After mustering up some courage, Pam pressed the elevator button for the second floor and waited for the doors to open. She checked with the nurses' station once again just to see if they would tell her anything differently before wandering down the hallway on her own. As she turned the corner, she could see a tall, somewhat lanky man staring through the glass of the nursery window. From this angle she could see a large bandage covering the upper left side of his forehead. Maybe this was the man from the other car? The doctor had said that the man had only needed stitches. Pam began walking toward the man but stopped dead in her tracks when he angled his body toward her.

"Oh my god, Jim!?"

"Pam?!"

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Mediocre? Any ideas for improvement or future storyline? Thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Ok, so I know this chapter is a little late considering how quickly I've posted the previous chapters but it's here! I've been doing some serious work with my Party Planning Committee for the last week prepping for the big welcome back party I had on Thursday for The Office. Now that the party's over, hopefully I'll be able to concentrate on this story a little more. I have one more chapter done and I'm debating if it's going to be the final chapter or if I'm going to continue the story. I could go either way with it. Let's see how inspired I get! LoL! And I know there's a lot of repeated sentences in this chapter. I did that intentionally to kind of show the parallel of Jim and Pam's feelings about the situation. Love it? Hate it? Feel free to let me know! And again, there's POV changes throughout. And now, the reviewers...

Jayme- Thanks! I loved the name too! It wasn't really intentional for Jim to seem disconnected from Karen but it's hard to write emotional stuff for them since we rarely saw them together, even when they were dating. I think on some level though, they never really had that major connection that Jim had with Pam. So we'll say I did it intentionally LoL!  
Tophet- Thanks so much for all your compliments! I'm glad you like this concept!  
Dancer- I've always thought Jim would be an awesome father. Hopefully we'll get to see more of that here soon.  
Gummy- Thanks for the compliments! Here's your next update!  
ktface- I'm glad someone else sees the Karen thing my way! LoL! As for the name, I was looking up different names that I liked and when I saw the meaning of that one I thought it fit perfectly. On a side note, the Liam thing came from a discussion with my best friend about baby names. She loved that name and I absolutely hated it. LoL!  
Moony- Don't worry! The story didn't end there. Here's the first face-to-face!  
Camella- Your reviews always make me laugh. I didn't realize my story was that intense! LoL! Should I tone it down some?  
RedNex- Yeah, I hate the RAM part of the story too. That's why I choose to ignore it. Hehe! Glad you like the rest of it!  
Maddikinz- You should know by now that I LOVE a good cliffhanger. I don't think I've ended a single chapter without one. They're just so fun! Hehe! Glad to see you're enjoying the story!

* * *

Pam stared at Jim in disbelief. After three years, she had pretty much given up hope of ever seeing him again. She had heard little updates about him from Michael. He always felt the need to tell Pam every last detail of his trips, whether it be going to Jamaica with Jan or a Dunder-Mifflin manager's convention. She remembered back to Michael's recounting of the convention two years ago.

"_So, I saw your ol'buddy Jim," Michael said with a giddy tone as he leaned over the receptionist's desk. "He's doing really well out there in Stamford."_

"_Good. I'm happy for him," Pam answered quickly, just trying to get Michael away from her desk._

"_Really? Well, then maybe I should throw another flame on the fire!"_

_Pam shook her head in annoyance. Michael never could get an expression right. _

"_Jim's getting shackled to the ol' ball and chain!" he exclaimed._

"_What?" Pam asked, wanting to make sure she heard him right._

"_Jim! He's getting married! And let me tell you…she is smokin'!" Michael said with a giggle. _

Pam remembered the stab she had felt in her heart when she had heard that news. Even though she was married to Roy, the thought of Jim marrying someone else had unnerved her. The feelings of jealousy had pained her so deep she had run out of the office while fighting back tears. She had sat in the stairwell for a good twenty minutes, letting the tears flow freely. Pam had lost her best friend, her Jim. Truth be told, she had lost him a long time ago. She had lost him the day she had agreed (again) to marry Roy.

Now, the man that had always held a special place in her heart stood right in front of her. He still looked the same, save for the bandage on his forehead and his shorter haircut. Pam took a cautious step forward, looking Jim straight in the eye.

"What are you doing here?" Jim asked her. She could sense something in his voice that she didn't recognize. It was a tone that cut straight to her heart.

"I…um…" Pam had never wanted to not answer a question so much in her life. The thought that Jim could possibly be the man from the other car pained her deeply. Even just looking at his bandaged face caused her heart to break for him.

"Pam?"

She looked up into his eyes when he said her name. She missed hearing her name on those lips.

"I asked why you were here. Are you hurt?"

And that was one of the things she loved most about him. He had always put his concern for others before his own pain.

"No," she finally answered. "I'm not hurt. Um…Roy…he was in an accident."

"Oh. Well, um, is he ok?" Jim pressed her.

Pam knew from his tone that he was just being polite. "Yeah…I guess. I mean, he's alive. At this point, I could care less what happens to him."

* * *

Jim stared at Pam in disbelief. He couldn't believe she was standing here in front of him. He hadn't realized how much he had missed her until this very moment. Her tone of voice startled him. He had never heard her voice so cold. What could have happened between Pam and Roy to make her so disgusted with him? Jim knew he had no right anymore, but he decided to press the issue. "Did he get hurt at work or something?"

He could see the pain in her eyes as soon as she looked at him. Something bad had happened. She merely shook her head solemnly.

"Car accident," was all she said.

The realization hit Jim so hard that he literally fell back against the wall. His thought process went into overdrive.

_Roy? Roy had been driving the other car? Roy was the man responsible for taking his wife away from him?_

Jim watched as Pam took another step toward him. He instantly recoiled and stepped away from her.

* * *

Pam knew from Jim's reaction that her worst fear had been confirmed. It had been Jim's car. Roy was responsible for every bit of pain that was now crossing Jim's face. Tears flooded her eyes. "Jim, I'm so sorry!"

She knew she had no right anymore, but she wanted him to open up to her. She wanted to know exactly what was on his mind. "Can we go somewhere and talk?"

Jim shot her a pained expression. "I need to get back to my room."

Pam watched as he moved past her in the direction of the elevators. "Jim!" she called after him.

He turned slowly to face her.

"Please?" she asked, barely above a whisper. "There are just some things I need to say."

Jim's emotions were at war. The last thing he wanted was to rehash this whole situation, least of all with Pam. However, he couldn't bring himself to push her away. The thought of causing her pain felt very unsettling. Finally, Jim shrugged in resignation before turning back to the elevators. As the doors opened, he took a step forward, and then froze. "Room 511," he told Pam. "I'll be back in a minute. I have to do something first."

"Ok. I'll be waiting." Pam pressed the button for the fifth floor and watched Jim turn back down the hallway as the doors closed.

* * *

Jim tapped gently on the nursery glass, catching the attention of one of the nurses. He signaled for her to come into the hallway. "Hi, I know this is probably against hospital policy or something, but would it be okay if I see my daughter for just a second?" he asked the nurse. "I mean, can I just hold her really quick? It's been a long day."

The nurse smiled at him and nodded gently. "Of course, I just need to see your wristband to verify which one is your daughter. And I will have to stay out here while she's out of the nursery. We can't risk her disappearing on us you know."

Jim agreed, grateful that these people were so careful with his little girl's care. He held out his wrist to the nurse. "Abigail Halpert is mine," he said proudly.

The nurse checked the wristband and turned back in the direction of the nursery, stopping by Abby's bassinet. She gently lifted the squirming newborn and brought her out to Jim's waiting arms.

"Hey sweetie," he said, kissing her lightly on top of her head. "Daddy just needed to come say goodnight."

Jim marveled at how much more at ease he felt with this little baby cradled in his arms. It was like she gave him strength he didn't even know he had. "I need you in here cheering for me okay?" he whispered in her tiny ear. "This isn't going to be easy."

Jim looked up at the nurse as she held out her arms for Abby. "I really need to get her back in there."

He looked down at his little girl one last time. "I love you sweetie. Goodnight." He kissed her head one more time before handing her over to the nurse. Jim stood at the window and watched until the nurse had Abby settled in her bassinet. Once in the elevator, he took a deep breath, preparing himself for what was to come.

* * *

A/N: Thank you guys so much for all your reviews! They really inspire me to keep this story going! You guys are awesome! Let me know what you think of this chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Well, originally this was planned to be the last chapter. Not your conventional JAM story. However, after thinking it over for a while I realized it wouldn't be fair to you guys that have faithfully reviewed every chapter to leave it hanging like this. So without further adieu, here is the next chapter.

Moony- I will wear that title proudly! I'm glad it's keeping you interested!  
Abyssion - Sorry they've been so short. I just don't want to reveal too much at one time. After all, they just experienced some major trauma. I don't want to put them on overload all of a sudden. I'll try to make the chapters that take place outside the hospital a little longer.  
Jayme - Thanks for the compliment! I'm trying to keep it as realistic as possible. Even though we all know he'll always be in love with Pam, I don't see him running back into her arms after all that's happened. And I love Daddy Halpert too! I wish he was a real person! LoL!  
Mrs. Fitzgerald - We'll have to wait and see! Honestly, I haven't thought that far ahead! Hehe!  
ktface - I love your reviews! They always have so much feedback in them! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. And, even though I thought about it, this won't be the last chapter. Hope you continue to like it!  
JimPamJAM - I'm sorry they're so short. Like I said before, I'm trying not to give too much away. The hospital scenes had so much drama I didn't want to over-do it with the angst. I'll try to make the ones outside the hospital longer.  
prudence - I'm glad you think I'm doing Jim's character justice. I always pictured him as a great father. Thanks!  
tophet - Well, here you go. Sorry it's (again) so short but I'll try to make the happy JAM stuff worth the wait!

* * *

Pam stared blankly out the window of Jim's hospital room. In just a few short hours her life had changed completely. Her marriage was over. The one thing that had been a constant in her life had now been ripped away. As unhappy as she was with Roy, at least he had played the part of a husband. He fixed the truck when it broke down. He replaced the light bulbs when they burned out. He had even fixed a couple of leaky pipes over the years. The only thing he hadn't fixed was Pam's heart. It had broken the day she realized what a mistake it had been to marry Roy and he didn't even notice. Tears rolled silently down Pam's face as she remembered all the hurtful accusations and demeaning insults. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Jim reenter his room until he cleared his throat. She jumped slightly and turned to face him. Her heart broke at the look on his face. He looked as if he had lost his entire world. As much as she hated to, she knew the question had to be asked.

"Jim?"

He looked up at her with a blank stare.

"The car Roy hit…please tell me it wasn't you," Pam choked out.

Jim just gazed at her, a sorrowful expression crossing his features. He shook his head sadly. "I can't."

Tears continued flowing down Pam's face. Of all people that this could have happened to, why Jim? He didn't deserve any of this. "Jim. I'm so sorry."

Jim didn't respond. He simply sat down on the bed and stared at the floor. He couldn't bring himself to look at her. Even though he knew deep down that none of this was her fault, he also needed someone to blame. He knew if he started yelling, he wouldn't stop until he had completely shattered the woman he had once cared so much about.

Pam took a careful step toward him. She knew that she was probably the last person on earth that Jim wanted to see right now. As much as she wanted to comfort him, she knew it was no longer her place. They weren't best friends anymore. They were barely acquaintances. She did the only thing she knew to do. She began to talk to him like she had all those years ago. Back when a few simple words could say everything that needed to be said. "I understand if you don't want to talk to me. I wouldn't want to talk to me either if I were you. I know you're angry and hurt and confused. And I know that we haven't seen or heard from each other in three years but if you need someone to talk to, I'm here. You're still the best friend I've ever had."

--

Jim's eyes shot up to meet Pam's. He hadn't expected such honesty from her. The Pam he remembered had always been guarded with her emotions. She had never said exactly what she was feeling. Now, she was a person that he barely knew. Before he could respond, she began to speak again.

"What happened with your wife?"

That was the question Jim had been dreading. He hadn't yet been able to bring himself to say the answer. He was afraid if he said it out loud, the reality would really hit him.

--

Pam knew the answer to her question as soon as she asked it. Jim's demeanor immediately changed. His face fell in despair and his eyes became clouded with tears.

She was surprised when he finally spoke. "Karen…she didn't…she didn't make it."

Pam suddenly felt the urge to draw Jim into her arms. It took everything within her to hold herself back. That was the last thing he probably wanted right now. Comfort from the woman whose husband was responsible for killing his wife. "And the baby?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

She was surprised to see a tiny bit of a smile on Jim's face. "Abby's doing great," he answered.

Pam breathed a sigh of relief. She knew how it felt to lose a child. She never wanted Jim to know that feeling. "I'm glad to hear that."

Jim offered her a small smile in return.

"I'm really sorry about your wife. Karen, you said? I'm sure she was a great person."

Jim nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she really was. Karen was a force to be reckoned with when you got in her way, but she had a heart of gold. Especially when it came to people she loved."

Pam forced a smile at Jim. How could something like this have happened? It sounded as if Jim had a loving and caring wife who had been taken senselessly from him while she had a monster of a husband that had scraped by with a couple of cuts and bruises. "Life's never fair is it Jim?" she asked him.

"Doesn't seem that way does it?"

Jim and Pam sat in silence for what seemed like hours. It wasn't one of the comfortable silences they had been accustomed to all those years ago. This one was a painful silence, begging to be broken.

"Well, I should go," Pam finally spoke up. "I have a lot of packing to do." She picked up her purse and began making her way to the door.

The underlying message of that statement stung Jim in the heart. She was leaving Roy. He knew this hadn't been an easy night for her either. They had both lost people they had cared about in very different ways.

"Pam!" he called out, just before she reached the door.

She stopped and turned, still just barely inside the room.

"I'm really sorry for the way things worked out. You've always deserved better than him."

Jim's words hit Pam square in the heart, stirring up feelings she thought she had buried long ago.

"Thanks," she smiled at him. "I hope everything works out for you and your daughter."

With one final look back over her shoulder, Pam made her way out of Jim's room and onto the elevator. Without thinking, she pressed the second floor button. She didn't know what had come over her, but she felt an intense need to see what a child of Jim's would look like. As much as she tried to deny it, she had always secretly dreamed about it. Once she reached the nursery window, her eyes scanned the room until they landed on a bed labeled "Abigail K. Halpert". Pam smiled as she gazed in awe at the beautiful little girl that lay in the bassinet. _She's got Jim's nose._ Pam thought to herself with a smile. She gently placed her hand on the glass and closed her eyes. "Take care of him for me, Abby," she whispered before opening her eyes and taking one last look at the little girl. Finally, Pam stepped back on the elevator and made her way out of the hospital, ready and eager to start her new life.

* * *

A/N: The next chapter starts the process of rebuilding their lives. Review please! Thanks to all you loyal readers!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Well, here's the next chapter. This was originally going to be strictly Pam's POV but 1) everyone keeps requesting longer chapters and 2) Daddy Jim is too sweet to pass up!  
I'm still trying to steer things in the right direction with this one so there's no interaction between them yet but I think there's enough to keep you interested. Any comments or suggestions, feel free to pass them on!

tophet - Thanks for the compliments! This is definitely not the end of the story. Congrats on the new addition to the family! Boy or girl?  
luv - Thanks so much! I really considered making that the end but it was killing ME not knowing what happened to them! LoL  
lulupanda - I don't know! We'll have to wait and see what happens with our favorite couple!  
Gummy Bear - Thanks! The part with Pam and Abby was a last minute addition actually. I wasn't too sure about it. Glad you liked it!  
ktface - You're awesome! Thanks for the feedback on that line! I'm glad you like the story so far. Hopefully it will continue to surprise you  
dancer - That's ok! I'm just glad people are enjoying the story. Thanks for the review!  
Jayme - I thought the exact same thing when I wrote that! LoL! As much as I love John Krasinski, I always tease about his nose. It's adorable on him but I have to wonder what his kids will look like. Hehe! Thanks for the review!  
JimPamJAM - Thanks! That was my favorite part too! I'm planning to have a little more Pam/Abby interaction in future chapters  
Moony - I get what you're saying. It leans more toward the Fancy New Beesly version of Pam than the one we saw when she was with Roy. I'm trying to transition her over slowly, kind of like they did on the show. I hope I'm doing it justice!  
maddikinz - Thanks! I love the name Abby too!  
Abyssion - Wow! Thanks so much for the compliment! This chapter has more of both perspectives. Enjoy the continued angst! LoL  
Yabberli - Thanks! Here's the next chapter!

* * *

_Six weeks later_

It was three o' clock on a Friday afternoon and Pam was sitting behind the reception desk playing another mind-numbing game of FreeCell when Michael came marching out of his office.

"Attention Dunder-Mifflin Scranton! Everyone in the conference room ASAP!"

Pam rolled her eyes, assuming Michael had some unimportant matter to discuss with the staff. She closed out of her game and headed in the direction of the conference room, settling in between Dwight and Phyllis.

"Attention everyone," Michael began his speech. He seemed very giddy today. "I have a very important announcement to make! Anyone want to guess what it is?"

"We're getting a raise?" Stanley droned, only briefly glancing up from his crossword puzzle.

"No! Even better!" Michael chirped.

"We're instituting a Beet Appreciation Day?" Dwight asked with eagerness.

"God no!" Michael recoiled in disgust. "Nobody likes beets! Are you insane? Anyone else want to venture a guess?"

The rest of the staff stared at Michael blankly. A huge smile spread across his face. "Our family is finally coming back together! One of our most beloved salesmen is returning to his old stomping ground!"

"Ryan?!" Kelly squealed.

"No. I wish. But no. No, it's Jim! Jim Halpert is returning to good ol' Scranton!"

Dwight's face dropped in disappointment. "Michael, you can not be serious! Jim Halpert was nothing but an annoying slacker! Why on earth would we want him back?"

Michael looked hurt. "Because he's part of our family Dwight! And no matter how many times your family leaves you for another 'cooler' family, you still take them back. Jim will be back at his desk starting Monday!"

Phyllis finally chimed into the conversation. "What made Jim decide to come back to Scranton? I heard he was doing really well in Stamford."

Pam shifted uncomfortably in her seat. How on earth was she going to deal with seeing Jim every single day, knowing that her husband was the reason Jim's entire world had shattered around him? It hadn't taken long for everyone in the office to find out what had happened between Pam and Roy. While the news had left Jim and Karen's name out of the reports, Roy's face had been plastered all over the TV and paper in the form of a mug shot. When Pam had returned to work a few days after the accident, everyone immediately noticed the missing band of gold on her left hand. No one had said much to her about it, but she knew the whispers and speculations were there. Toby had been exceptionally helpful to her through everything. He was the only person she had told the whole story to, including the names of the people in the other car. As Michael continued his speech about Jim's imminent return, she ventured a worried glance at Toby who returned the look with sympathy. Once Michael finished explaining the details, including the fact that Jim would be assuming the position of Assistant Regional Manager, much to Dwight's chagrin, the employees began filing out of the conference room and back to their desks.

When Pam was once again seated at reception, she turned the voicemail off and pulled out her old sketchpad. This sketchpad hadn't been used much in the past few years. Her art was another of the things she had let go of once she married Roy. He had always made a point to tell her how ridiculous it was to spend her time on drawings no one would probably ever see. Just to prove him wrong, she had actually submitted one of her drawings to an art contest. However, the plan backfired on Pam when another artist was picked for the prize. She couldn't count how many times Roy had used the phrase "I told you so". Now that she finally felt free of Roy, she could get back all the things she used to love, starting with her art. As she stared at the sketchpad, her hand suddenly started moving, almost of its own accord. She was so intent on her sketch she almost didn't hear Toby move to stand by the reception desk.

"Pam, can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Sure," Pam answered, putting down her pencil. She quickly transferred the phones to voicemail and followed Toby back to the conference room.

"I just want to make sure you're okay with this whole Jim thing," Toby began once he had closed the conference room door. "I know this will probably be awkward for you guys and I want to make sure if you have any concerns that we address them now."

Pam nodded in understanding. "I don't think awkward is the right word, Toby. That's way too tame for what I'm thinking. Did he say why he wanted to come back here? I mean, he's got to know that I still work here. Does that not bother him?"

"He mentioned something about it. He said he knew it would be hard for you two to get past everything that happened that night but he also had to do what was best for his daughter. I have to say, I really admire him for how he's handling everything. I don't think I would have been so understanding. I just want to make sure we're all on the same page about how much everyone else in the office knows about the accident. Jim was pretty adamant that we leave things the way they are. Where everyone thinks Jim's accident and Roy's are two completely separate occurrences. If you have any issues with that, I need to know before Jim comes back to work on Monday."

Pam was stunned. "He doesn't want anyone to know that Roy was responsible?"

Toby shook his head. "I can't go into too much detail about my conversation with Jim due to confidentiality issues. I can tell you that he wants to protect all parties involved as much as possible."

Pam understood what Toby was trying to say. Jim was trying to protect _her_. He didn't want everyone in the office blaming her for his current situation. "Leave it to Jim to try and play hero when he's the one hurting the worst," she said through a small smile.

"Well, if you need me for anything, you know where to find me." Toby stood up and made his way out of the conference room.

Pam sat there for a few minutes in stunned silence. Half of her was happy to have her old friend back. The other half of her was terrified of never being able to be in the same room as her old friend without extreme tension. Once her nerves had steadied enough, Pam wandered back over to reception and resumed her sketch. Before she realized it, her drawing had taken shape. It was an outline of Jim, sitting across from her at his old desk, working meticulously to annoy Dwight by creating a fence of sharpened pencils. She smiled at the memory the drawing brought back as she continued her sketch. When five o' clock finally rolled around, Pam studied her picture carefully. For being out of practice, it wasn't half bad. Suddenly an idea struck her. She turned the picture over and began to write.

_Jim,_

_I just heard the news that you'll be back at your old desk on Monday. I thought maybe you could use a reminder of how to get through a workday at Dunder Mifflin Scranton with Dwight Schrute as your neighbor. I know it won't be easy but I hope we can sort through this big mess that our lives have become and maybe be friends again. I know things will never be the way they used to be, but hopefully we can get a little bit of our old selves back. I've really missed you. I'm glad your back. _

_Best of luck,  
Pam_

Pam slipped the sketch into an envelope and wrote Jim's name on the front. Before leaving the office, she laid it squarely in the middle of his desk, hoping he would see it first thing Monday morning.

* * *

"Is that everything?"

Jim turned to face his friend Dave. Dave was one of the first people Jim had met after moving to Stamford. Karen had introduced them one night when they had gone out for drinks after work. Dave and Jim had hit it off instantly and had become fast friends. The two of them would spend Sunday afternoons watching football while their wives went shopping or out to lunch. Dave had been a life-saver for the past few weeks. He and his wife Julie had helped to take care of Abby while Jim analyzed every possible move he could make. In the end, as much as he didn't want to, he knew the best thing to do would be to move back to Scranton. After all, his family was there and they would be easily accessible whenever he needed their help. For the past six weeks he had been making arrangements to transfer back to the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin and finding a place to live. Finally, Jim had found a small house to rent that was only a couple of blocks from his parent's house and about ten minutes from work. Renting hadn't been his ideal choice but he hadn't wanted to lock in to the commitment of a house when he wasn't even sure if things were going to work out in Scranton. He and Dave had just placed the last of his personal belongings into the back of a U-haul, ready to set off for Scranton. Dave and Julie had agreed to follow Jim in the U-haul so he could drive his car and have Abby safe in the backseat.

"I think that's it man," Jim answered, slapping his friend lightly on the back. "Thanks for all your help. I definitely couldn't have done this without you."

"Hey, don't mention it," Dave said with a smile. "Since we finished a little early, why don't we go grab a bite to eat before we hit the road?"

Jim's stomach growled at the thought of food. He had been so busy with making sure Abby was taken care of between the packing and loading he had forgotten to even stop to eat. "Sounds like a plan. Let's go round up our girls and we'll get going."

Jim and Dave walked through the empty house until they finally located Julie and Abby sitting on the back porch swing. Jim smiled at the sight of his little girl on that swing. He could remember the day he had hung it like it was yesterday.

_Seriously, Karen? Whatever possessed you to buy this thing?" Jim asked his wife as he struggled with screwing the anchors into the support beams._

"_Oh, quit your whining Halpert. You love it and you just don't want to admit it." Karen had teased him._

"_Well, right now I'm not loving it all that much," Jim answered, cursing quietly as the anchor slipped out of his fingers for the fourth time. _

_Karen giggled at his frustration. She crossed the porch slowly and took his face in her hands, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. "You're cute when you're angry," she teased him with a wink._

_Jim smiled lovingly at his wife. "Don't try to suck up to me now. I still can't figure out why you wanted to buy this thing."_

"_I thought it would be nice for when we have a family. You know, we could sit out here on the porch and all swing together."_

"_And you thought 'I have to buy this now because swings will cease to exist in a few years?'" Jim teased back at her._

_Jim saw Karen's expression change quickly. She had never been a shy person but the look on her face right now looked like a little girl hiding behind her mother's skirt._

"_No, not a few years. More like a few months."_

_Jim's eyes widened in shock. "Karen…are you saying what I think you're saying?"_

_Karen beamed a huge smile at him. "You're going to be a daddy, Halpert!"_

_Jim proceeded to drop the anchor and the drill on his toe before running over and swinging his wife up into his arms. _

"Hey sweetie!" he said, kneeling down in front of his daughter. "Are you ready to go for a ride?"

Julie stood up from the swing and passed Abby over to Jim. "We are stopping to get food right? I'm starved!" she exclaimed.

"Of course! I know better than to take you anywhere when you're hungry. Especially on a long road trip," Dave teased at his wife.

"You know me too well." Julie smiled at Dave and gave him a gentle kiss. "Let's hit the road!"

Jim carried Abby into the house and placed her into her car seat, making sure all the buckles and straps were secure before lifting the carrier from the kitchen counter. As he made his way to the door, Jim looked around at the empty space that had once been his home. Memories touched every corner of every room. Thoughts of everything from laughter to tears flooded his mind as he glanced around the vacant shell of a home. Jim felt a tear escape the corner of his eye and wiped it away quickly. "I guess it's time to start our new lives, kid," he said, lifting the carrier so Abby was eye level with him. "What do you think? Do you think we'll be okay?"

Jim smiled as Abby stretched her tiny hand toward him. If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn she air-fived him. Just in case, Jim acknowledged the gesture with an air-five of his own. In that moment, memories of another time and place floated into his mind. Visions of fake resumes and cat costumes drifted through his thoughts. He shook his head quickly to rid himself of the memories. Now was definitely not the time to revisit that area of his life. Taking one last look around, Jim swung Abby's carrier back down to his side. "Time to go, sweetie." In the next few moments, Jim locked Abby's car seat into its base, checked the straps one more time, and climbed behind the wheel, heading in the direction of the nearest restaurant.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Much apologies for how long it took me to get this one up. I really have no excuse except writers block and lack of motivation. I know most of you will recognize this as a filler chapter but I promise I'll pick up the pace with the next one. You guys have been so great! Keep up the awesome reviews! My review response area seems to get longer every chapter! Very exciting!

Jayme - I love the Toby crush too. I was trying to just play it subtly into the story. I'm guessing you loved the Toby scene in "Night Out". So funny!  
Abyssion - Thanks so much! That flashback was a last minute addition. It was inspired by Pam's line about Jim screwing up her TiVo in "Dinner Party". I can just see him cursing the stupid swing after dropping the drill on his toe. LoL  
dancer - Of course Jim is a sweetheart. I like that he's still the guy we all know and love even in the not so good times  
Gummy Bear - I'm glad you liked the Beet Appreciation Day line. I was afraid I was going a little too far with that one but I couldn't think of anything else Dwight would get excited about. LoL! Thanks for the compliment!  
ktface - Thanks so much! I love the conference room scenes but I'd never actually written one until now. I gotta say, it was pretty fun!  
lanmwolf - Thank you! I'm glad you've been enjoying it! Thanks for reviewing! I think the hanging of the swing is actually my favorite thing I've written for some odd reason. LoL! I guess I can just picture Jim doing something like that. I hope you continue to like what's to come!  
Moony - I love reading people's responses to reviews too! I got the idea from AvilaGrace. She always does so great with her fics and she always responds to every review she gets. And I love writing Daddy Halpert. He's just so darn adorable!  
JimPamJAM - Don't worry. Jim and Pam still have a long way to go before they'll be ready for anything more than friendship. It's going to be a long journey but I'm excited to write it!  
tophet - Well, here's Jim's first day back. I hope it lives up to expectations. And those are such cute names! Didn't you give the name Maddie to the baby in "Knocked Up"? Love that story by the way!  
waiting4love - Thanks so much! Here's the next chapter!

* * *

If this morning was any kind of omen about Jim's life in Scranton, he knew he was in serious trouble. Abby had barely slept more than two hours all night. Jim had finally opted to let her sleep in her bouncy seat on the floor next to the bed instead of putting her back in her crib for the sixth time that night. When his alarm went off at 7:00, he had finally just drifted off to sleep. He slapped the alarm quickly so it wouldn't wake up Abby and rolled over to peep at his daughter. Luckily, she was still sleeping soundly. After lying in bed for a couple of minutes, Jim finally stretched his long limbs and began preparing for the day ahead. He clicked on the baby monitor and began wandering through the house. Over the next hour he managed to pack Abby's diaper bag, pick out his outfit for work, and take a quick shower. Just as he was turning off the water, Abby's soft whimper began to come through over the monitor. Jim quickly dried himself off and wrapped a towel around his waist before heading back to the bedroom to check on the baby. "Good morning, beautiful," he said as he reached down to remove Abby from her seat. Abby made a couple of squeaking noises in return, bringing a big smile to her daddy's face. No matter how much she kept him up at night, one quick look at her could make every bad emotion melt away. Jim quickly changed and dressed Abby before placing her back in the bouncy seat so he could dress himself. Ten minutes later, Jim had Abby secured in her car seat and on the way to his parent's house. Jim had hired a nanny to watch Abby on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday and his mother had agreed to keep her on Monday and Thursday. He made the ten minute drive while trying his best to keep Abby quiet in the backseat. He had learned quickly that his daughter was definitely not a fan of riding in the car. Once he reached his parent's house, Jim quickly unloaded Abby and her diaper bag and toted them all into the house.

"Morning sweetie!" Larissa Halpert called from the kitchen.

"Morning mom!" he answered, placing Abby's car seat on the couch.

"Well, I was talking to my granddaughter but good morning to you too, Jim!" she teased her youngest son as she came in from the kitchen and placed a quick peck on his cheek.

"Well, I hate to run but I'm going to be late for work as it is and I really don't feel like dealing with Dwight any more than I have to," Jim said, getting up from the couch and heading toward the front door. He gave his mom some last minute instructions for Abby before kissing his mother and daughter goodbye and jumping back in the car to head to work.

* * *

It was 9:05 when Pam finally took her seat behind the receptionist desk. She had arrived later than usual this morning, thanks to a power outage in her apartment building that had knocked out her alarm clock. She had still somehow managed to get to work with five minutes to spare but no one had bothered to start the coffee yet. Once it finished brewing, she headed back to her desk to start the day ahead. She also noticed that Jim's desk was still empty, causing Dwight to stare daggers at the vacant chair. When he finally headed in the direction of Michael's office, Pam discreetly turned on the intercom feature from her desk to Michael's phone.

She remembered the day Jim had helped her rig Michael's phone so the intercom button was always pressed in. This way she could hear what was going on in Michael's office from any of the desk phones. It was one of their dirtier tricks but it had provided Pam and Jim with countless hours of entertainment when the boring days droned on too long.

Dwight immediately began protesting as soon as he entered Michael's office. "Michael! Have you noticed that Jim is not here yet?"

"It's his first day back Dwight. Cut him some slack!" Michael shot back at Dwight.

"As ranking number two in this office, it is his official duty to set the example for the rest of the people that work here. If he is allowed to come in whenever he wants, everyone else is going to follow suit before long."

"Look Dwight, I'm really busy today and I don't have time to worry about anything at all. So just go out there and make your sales calls and make sure everyone leaves me alone."

Pam rolled her eyes as she saw Dwight's chest puff up through the window to Michael's office. It was amazing how even the smallest command from Michael could make him feel so important.

"I won't let you down Michael."

Pam quickly turned off the intercom again and pretended to be hard at work typing up a memo. Once Dwight was back at his desk, the office settled into its normal rhythm of ringing phones and typing on keyboards. Finally, around 9:30, Pam heard the office door click open. She glanced up from her computer to see Jim enter the office. She felt a slight twinge of hurt when he walked past reception without even a glance in her direction. Pam watched as Jim hung his jacket and old familiar messenger bag on the back of his chair and settle in for a long day at Dunder Mifflin Scranton.

"You're late!" Dwight stated plainly, as he sat up stiffly in his chair.

"Not today, Dwight," Jim answered quietly without even glancing at his neighbor.

"Jim, as second in command you need to make sure you are leading by example in this company. You should be…" Dwight began a rant before he was cut off by Jim's sharp words.

"I said I don't want to hear it!"

Everyone in the office looked up from their desks in surprise. None of them had ever heard Jim raise his voice before, not even when Dwight was at his highest level of annoyance. He was about to open his mouth to protest yet again when Jim quickly stood up from his chair and stalked through the kitchen door, heading in the direction of the break room.

* * *

"What was I thinking?" Jim asked himself in frustration. "What on earth made me think coming back to Scranton was a good idea?" He sat at one of the tables and placed his head in his hands, not even looking up when he heard someone enter the room. He heard the person head in the direction of the Coke machine and insert some money. "_Don't people have the decency to leave a man alone when he's clearly upset?" _he thought to himself. When he heard the aluminum can being set on the table next to him he finally looked up. Pam stood next to him with a can of grape soda and a handful of jellybeans on the table in front of her. She offered him a small smile and left the room.

A few moments later, he returned to his desk to see a manila envelope that he hadn't noticed before. It had his name written on the front of it in feminine style handwriting. He opened the envelope and pulled out the single sheet of paper that lay inside. As he examined the picture, a small smile danced at the corner of his lips and finally formed a full grin after reading the note on the back. With a smile on his face, he opened his messenger bag and pulled out a framed photo of himself and Abby taken right outside their new home. He placed it on his desk next to his computer screen and smiled at the thought that maybe, just maybe, Scranton could be home again. _Welcome back Jim Halpert," _he thought to himself. "_Welcome back."_


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Yay me for finally finishing this chapter! This one was a struggle! Forgive me if my courtroom drama isn't exactly realistic. I drew what I could remember off of the few episodes of Law and Order I've seen. And don't hate me for how Roy acts in this chapter. I hate leaving loose ends and I felt this was the only way I could sleep at night! LoL!

Moony - Thanks! Yeah, I wanted to make it obvious that Jim kind of lost himself after he left Scranton and he's just now starting to pick up the pieces. Glad you liked it!  
Gummy Bear - Yay for fillers! Hehe!  
henantz - Is it bad that I enjoy making this so heartbreaking? I'm glad you're enjoying this story. Hopefully we'll all be getting back the JAM we all know and love before long. Depends on where my mind takes me.  
JimPamJAM - Yes, I had to throw in more of Daddy Jim. I left it out of this chapter though. Don't worry he'll be back soon! And this chapter should answer your question.  
dancer - Yeah, I got the idea for sleeping in the bouncy seat from my niece. She refused to sleep anywhere but her bouncy seat for her first couple months so I thought I'd have Jim endure the same problem. There's more JAM interaction here so hopefully it meets your fix for now. :)  
ktface - Thanks so much! I've always imagined that Jim and Pam had to have some kind of tap set up in Michael's office for their own entertainment. I hope you enjoy the next step in this chapter.  
Yabberli - If I were Jim, I think I would have snapped on Dwight long ago. A broken heart mixed with not enough sleep and adding in Dwight would be enough to make anyone snap LoL!  
Abyssion - Yes, a new, but not always so improved Jim. Hopefully we'll be seeing some of the Jim we all know and love in the next couple of chapters  
Jayme - Was that not awesome? I love watching him scale that fence!  
tophet - Thanks so much! I've always loved Jim and Pam's unspoken connection and it's been really fun to write. Only two chapters of Knocked Up left? Now I'm sad! Maybe when you're done with that one, you can do a story on how twisted their child turns out after too many interactions with Michael and Dwight. LoL!

* * *

For the next few weeks, Jim slowly began rebuilding his life in Scranton. He had run into several familiar faces that he had long since forgotten. He had run into his old roommate Mark at the grocery store, his sixth grade English teacher at the gas station and even his ex-girlfriend Katy at the video store. The meeting with Katy hadn't exactly been the most comfortable thing in the world but she had fawned for nearly twenty minutes over Abby, telling Jim how incredibly adorable his daughter was. He had smiled politely and even made a few jokes before excusing himself to head home. It was amazing how having a child had completely changed his life. Every day it was like she taught him something new. He was beginning to learn her quirks and habits, her likes and dislikes. For instance, she loved her bouncy seat but hated her swing. She refused to take her pacifier unless she had just finished her bottle. And perhaps the most endearing of all was the fact that once Jim picked Abby up from his parents' house, she refused to be held by anyone but him for at least the next hour. "She's definitely Daddy's girl," his mother had commented.

The one element of his life that he was struggling with the most was his relationship with Pam. She had been nothing but nice to him since he had come back. Every time he happened to look up from his desk and catch her eye, he could see how badly she wanted to rebuild what they had lost. She had never forced the issue though. She had been giving him space to make the first move toward becoming friends again while still giving him subtle hints that she was there if he needed her. He wanted nothing more than to get past the painful awkwardness that existed between them. However, every time he thought about getting up from his desk to go steal a jellybean from her stash, something held him back.

Today was going to be the biggest test he had endured since returning to Scranton. Today was Roy's sentencing. After Roy had finally sobered up, he had agreed to plead guilty in order to avoid a trial. He knew from conversations he had overheard at work that Pam would be at the sentencing. It was by pure miracle that no one had yet found out that Jim would be there also. Once Jim had placed the picture of him and Abby on his desk, the questions had begun to come from his co-workers. Most of them knew Jim had gotten married from stories Michael had told when he returned from Dunder Mifflin conferences. However no one, save for Pam and Toby, knew that he had a daughter. Kelly had squealed with delight over the picture while most of the rest of the office has quietly congratulated him.

The hardest part had been explaining about Karen. He had made a promise to himself that no matter what, he wouldn't let Pam take the fall for what happened that night. And he also knew that if his co-workers knew the truth, the painful rumors would begin to circulate. When asked about Karen he had merely answered that she had died shortly after Abby was born due to complications. He didn't feel anyone in the office had the right to ask for more details and if they did, he would merely choose to ignore them. Everyone had been very thoughtful and offered their condolences upon first hearing the story. Now, everyone seemed to have fallen back into the rhythm of every day life at Dunder Mifflin, almost forgetting about the returned employee with the broken heart.

For now, he had to focus on the present and that meant getting through this sentencing with as little drama as possible. As he pulled his car into an empty parking space, he spotted Pam climbing out of her blue Yaris only a few spaces away. Something told him she could use a friend today too.

* * *

She saw him as soon as he got out of his car. His tall frame was hard to miss. Pam nearly choked when she realized he was walking right toward her. He stopped at the edge of the sidewalk.

"Hey," he said, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets. Pam couldn't help but think he looked like a scared little boy. She wanted desperately to reassure him that things would be okay. However, she knew the only person that could promise that today would be the presiding judge.

"Hey," she answered, not knowing what else to say.

"Are you doing okay?" he asked. Pam noticed a genuine deep concern in his voice and it nearly broke her heart. Jim continued on. "I mean, as hard as this is on me, I can't imagine it would be any easier for you. We both lost people we cared about that day and no matter what, we have to continue to live with the nightmare it caused for the rest of our lives."

Pam nodded in agreement. "I can't say it's been easy. I mean, it's bad enough knowing that Roy was cheating on me for no telling how long. Now, on top of that he hurt someone else that I…" Pam trailed off, wondering if she should finish her sentence.

* * *

Jim searched her face carefully, trying to determine what exactly she was trying to tell him. "Someone that you…" Jim urged her on.

He watched as Pam's face crumpled and tears began to pool in her eyes. "Someone I cared a lot about and never wish a moment's pain on. Someone who didn't deserve any of it," she finished, trying desperately to wipe the tears that were pouring down her face.

After all the years apart, it still broke Jim's heart to see this woman in pain. He knew deep down inside that even though they had a long way to go before they were completely comfortable with each other, they were still best friends. Without a moment's thought, Jim reached out his arms and drew Pam into his chest. He rubbed her back gently, trying to ease the sobs that continued to rack her body. When she had finally calmed down enough to speak, Pam drew back, already missing the warmth that came from being in Jim's arms.

"Are you okay?" Jim asked tenderly, searching her face to make sure she told him the truth.

She nodded slowly. "I will be. Let's just get this over with."

* * *

Pam and Jim made their way through the courthouse until they reached the room the sentencing was scheduled in. They sat in a pair of seats close to the front of the courtroom and waited quietly for the hearing to start. As people slowly began filtering in, Pam became noticeably more and more uncomfortable. Her right foot bounced nervously as she waited for the hearing to begin. Jim could sense how uneasy she was and gently nudged her with his elbow. Pam turned slowly and met Jim's intent gaze with one of her own. "It's going to be okay," he whispered. "No matter what, we'll get through this." Pam nodded briefly and turned her gaze to the front of the courtroom. The officers were bringing Roy in. Jim could feel her instantly tense as soon as she caught sight of her ex-husband. The fear on her face was enough to hurt and anger Jim. He hated that Roy had this much power over her. She didn't deserve it. No one did, really. As Roy was led to his seat in front of the judge, he turned to look at Pam and Jim. Pam tensed once again and turned to look at the back of the courtroom, trying with all of her might not to meet Roy's intent stare. When the judge finally entered the room, Jim and Pam stood with the rest of the crowd in attendance. Once everyone had resumed their seats, the judge began the proceedings.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as many of you know, we are here to determine sentencing for Mr. Roy Anderson on two charges of vehicular manslaughter."

Jim froze at the judges words. "Manslaughter?" he whispered to Pam. "I thought they had deemed it a homicide?"

"Plea bargain." Pam whispered back. "Roy agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge with a reduced sentence."

"But he killed two people! How does that happen?" Jim asked incredulously.

Pam shrugged her shoulders. "I guess that's just the way the system works. Not fair is it?"

Jim shook his head in disbelief and turned his attention back to the judge.

"Mr. Anderson," the judge continued. "Would you like to address the court before your sentence is handed down?"

Roy nodded solemnly and moved to the podium in front of the stand. Pam watched as he took a deep breath and began to speak. "Your honor, I know I made a very big mistake. I wish with all of my heart that I could go back and do things differently. I hurt a lot of people that night. The family of the woman in my car, the family of the people in the car I hit, and my wife."

Roy turned to face a group of people on the right side of the courtroom. Pam assumed they were the family of the woman in the truck. He began to speak again. "I'm really sorry for all of the pain I caused you all. She didn't deserve to have her life taken away so suddenly because of my stupidity. I only hope that one day you all can forgive me, although I'll understand if you don't. I really am sorry."

Roy then turned his gaze to rest on Jim. "Jim, I'm really sorry about your wife. Again, I understand if you never forgive me. You have to know I didn't set out to hurt anyone that night. I know no amount of apologies will bring her back and neither will me serving a jail sentence but I truly am sorry. I'm glad your little girl is okay. It kills me to know that she'll never know her mother and it's all because of me and my selfish stupidity."

Finally, he turned to look at Pam. "Pam, I know I hurt you. And I mean more than just that night. I spent most of the three years we were married trying to hurt you. To this day, I'm not sure why. I just know that you didn't deserve any of it. I need you to know that too. I was an idiot to not realize a good thing when I had it. I took you for granted and I'll never forgive myself for that. You deserve better than me. Hopefully one day you can find someone who will treat you with all of the respect and love you should have had all these years."

The judge began to speak once again. "Mr. Anderson, is there anything else you would like to say in your defense before we hand down the sentence?"

Roy shook his head solemnly. "No, Your Honor. I've made my peace with whatever your decision may be. Whatever it is, I know I probably deserve worse."

The judge nodded and lifted a sheet of paper slightly off the bench in front of him. "Roy Anderson, on the first count of vehicular manslaughter, you chose to plead guilty. On this count you have been sentenced to five years in prison."

Jim and Pam could hear the gasps of the woman's family across the room. Pam was sure they had expected longer than five years.

The judge continued. "On the second count of vehicular manslaughter, you chose to plead guilty. On this count you have also been sentenced to five years in prison for a combined total of ten years. You will be eligible for parole at the conclusion of your first sentenced time of five years."

Jim and Pam exchanged worried glances. Was it possible that Roy might serve only five years for taking the lives of two people? When the judge finally dismissed the court, Pam and Jim stood in shock. "Jim, I'm so sorry," Pam said gently, noticing the tense look on his face. "I know this isn't exactly what you were expecting."

Jim bit his lip and quickly shook his head. "I'm not even going to think about it. Worrying about what happens to that man is not going to consume one more second of my life. Life's too short to worry about things you can't change."

Both of them stood in silence, each absorbing the words Jim had just spoken. They both knew that the past couple of weeks had been agonizing. The careful tiptoe they had done around each other had been awkward and painful. Today was a day of new beginnings, a day to start over. Just as they were turning to leave, a voice called out, "Mr. Halpert!"

Jim turned to see one of the security guards gesturing to him. Jim stepped quickly around Pam and made his way toward the burly man. "Yes sir?"

"Sorry to bother you sir but Mr. Anderson wanted to know if he could speak to you for a moment?"

Jim glanced at Roy over the man's shoulder. As much as he wanted to say no, he knew if he didn't hear the man out, he would always wonder about it. "Fine. He has thirty seconds."

The guard stood close by, stopping Roy within a few feet of Jim. "_Just far away that he can't throw a punch at me,"_ Jim thought to himself.

Roy looked up from the spot he had been staring at on the floor and met Jim's confused look. "Hey Halpert. I just wanted to say that I meant everything I said up there. I really am sorry that you lost your wife like that. I can't say I know exactly how you feel but I can say I now know how it feels to lose your wife. Just promise me you'll look out for her."

"You mean Pam?" Jim asked.

"Yeah. I know you guys were best friends before you moved away. She was really torn up when you left. She cares about you a lot, man. She trusts you. I know I don't deserve to ask you for anything but please take care of Pam. She really does deserve a lot better than the hand she's been dealt. And I know most of that is my fault. I'm just hoping that maybe you can help fix what I broke. If not for my sake, then for hers. She deserves to be happy."

Jim nodded in understanding and glanced back over his shoulder at Pam. She was standing at the back of the courtroom, watching the men nervously as they talked. "You're right," he finally spoke up. "She does deserve to be happy. And I'll make sure she achieves it."

"Thanks man. Have a great life. And take care of that little girl of yours."

The guards then escorted Roy from the courtroom, leaving Jim standing alone in the middle of the room. He had never been so confused in his life, but at the same time, the haze that had settled over his life in the last couple months seemed to lift. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and whirled around to see Pam standing there. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"He asked me to look out for you," Jim answered solemnly, "and I promised him I would."

Pam met Jim's gaze and he could see the tears starting to form at the corner of her eyes. "Hey, you know that picture you left on my desk on my first day back in Scranton?" he asked her.

Pam smiled at the memory of drawing that picture and what it represented. "Yeah, I remember."

"Well, there was a note on the back of it. Did you really mean what you wrote on there?"

Pam looked into his eyes once again before giving her answer. "Every word."

Jim smiled down at her. "Good. Because after a day like today, I could use a best friend. How about you?"

Pam smiled back at him. "Absolutely."

"Well, then…what do you say we go grab a late lunch and catch up on the three years we've missed?" he asked, extending his hand to her. "Deal?"

Pam took his hand in her own, giving it a slight squeeze before releasing it. "Deal!"

* * *

A/N: So, like I said, don't hate me for redeeming Roy. I've had a soft spot for David Denman ever since I saw him in "The Replacements". I can't bring myself to dislike him for too long! LoL! And again, sorry if the courtroom lingo was a little off. So what do you guys think of the direction the story is going? Good? Bad? Needs improvement? Love it? Hate it? Let me know! Thanks for reading! You guys are the best!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Ok, this one turned out really long. Hopefully the story is still at a good pace for you guys.

Jayme - Thanks so much! I've always thought that Roy was a good guy that just made really bad choices. I'm glad they gave him his moment of redemption on the show so I thought I'd do the same with the story.  
ktface - Yeah, I really liked the season 3 version of Roy when he was actually trying to do the right thing by Pam. Too bad his character left the show. I would have really liked to have seen him in a new relationship with someone else  
Abyssion - Thanks! Like I said before, I have a soft spot for the Roy that's deep deep down and I think he has some great potential.  
dancer - Yeah, I hated having them so tense around each other all the time. I thought it was time to loosen them up a little bit. It's much more fun to write them as friends  
tophet - I like to think Roy's speech was genuine. He may not be the "aww shucks" good guy that Jim is but he does have some depth to him at times. Loving "The Minutes" by the way!  
prudence - Thanks! I try to stay as in character as possible. Even though this is a situation none of them have ever been in, I hope I'm staying true to form with them  
Moony - Yeah, I actually looked up sentences on Wikipedia in order to determine how long to give him. The max I could find was 13 years for each count and I thought that was a bit extreme so I settled on five for each count. I'm glad you liked this chapter. Hopefully you'll like this one with their slow progression back to JAM  
JimPamJAM - Ten years just felt right to me. In reality he probably should have gotten longer but like I said, I love David Denman too much to do that to Roy! LoL  
Gummy Bear - Yep, they're friends again. And hopefully it won't be long before we have some JAM love back in the office

* * *

About a month after the sentencing, Jim and Pam were almost completely back to normal. Jim had started spending more and more time lingering around the reception desk in between sales calls. Today, as he approached her desk, Pam could see a distinct twinkle in his eye. "Hey!" he said cheerily as he snatched a jellybean from the container.

"Hey! What's going on?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him in challenge.

"What do you mean? I just thought I'd come up here and say 'hi'. Did Dwight issue some kind of order that says I can't talk to you anymore or something?"

Pam laughed at his teasing. It felt good to laugh with him again. "No, but I know when you're up to something."

A sudden outburst from Dwight caused them both to turn their heads sharply. "Damn it Jim!"

Jim and Pam exchanged a quick glance at each other before turning their attention back to Dwight. "What's up Dwight?"

"You put my car keys in Jell-O!" Dwight shouted emphatically while hoisting the plate of Jell-O out of his desk drawer. "How am I supposed to make sales calls if I can't even get in my car?"

"Well, for starters, you have no proof that I did it." Jim shot back, amazed that he could fall so easily back into his bantering with Dwight. "And for another thing, you don't have any sales calls today. Michael, you, and I have that 'super secret project' to work on today."

Dwight's face suddenly went solemn. "What 'super secret project'"?

Jim feigned a look of surprise. "You mean Michael didn't tell you about it? I was sure he'd include you in on it. Hmmm…" He shrugged his shoulders before turning his back to Dwight and throwing a wink at Pam.

"MICHAEL!" Dwight shouted before storming off into the boss' office.

Pam gave Jim a nod of approval. "Nice!"

He tipped his head toward her in gratitude before returning to his desk. Just as he sat down an IM popped up on his screen.

PBeesly: Welcome back Jim! I've really missed you. ;)

Jim looked up to catch a quick smile from Pam before she was distracted by the ringing phone.

* * *

A few days later, Jim was in a fix. Abby's nanny had come down with a stomach virus and his parents were out of town visiting his brother Jonathan. The nanny had called while Jim was in the middle of fixing Abby's bottle. Normally, she showed up a little early to give Jim enough time to be ready for work. "What am I going to do with you sweetie?" he asked his little girl as she took her bottle. He knew there was no way he could miss work. He had a huge sales call today that would rake in some serious commission. He would need it if he was planning on staying in Scranton. While he liked the house they were staying in, there was just something completely unsatisfying about writing a check every month for something you didn't even own. He had already been looking at some of the houses around the area.

Once Abby finished her bottle, Jim knew he had to come up with some kind of solution to his problem. He vaguely remembered one of the women in Stamford bringing her baby into work with her a couple of times when she didn't have a sitter. Maybe he could get away with it just this once. After all, it's not like Michael would ever fire him, especially over something so insignificant. "Well sweetie," he said to Abby, "I guess I've shielded you from the strange people I work with for as long as I can." He placed Abby in her crib and clicked on the baby monitor while he quickly showered and dressed. Thankfully, she nodded off and stayed asleep as he put her into her car seat. "This is definitely going to be an interesting day."

* * *

At 9:00 on the dot, the door of the office clicked open and Pam looked up to see Jim standing there looking completely off balance. On top of the messenger bag he normally carried, he also had a diaper bag and a car seat in hand. "Oh my gosh! Let me help you!" she exclaimed, running around the desk to take Abby's car seat from Jim. With the precision of a pro, she swung the carrier up on her desk and flipped back the blanket Jim had thrown over the front to shield her from the cool morning air. "So this is the infamous Abby!" Pam nearly squealed with delight over seeing the little girl again. Even though she and Jim were friends again, they hadn't had any chances to see each other outside of work. The last time she had seen Abby was that fateful day in the hospital. "Hello princess!" she whispered as she fawned over the infant. Abby slowly began to stir and opened her eyes slightly.

Jim stepped up behind Pam to peek over her shoulder. "Hey beautiful! Are you ready to meet all these crazy people?" he asked.

Abby gave a small squeak and a smile. "I'll take that as a yes," Jim said proudly. Over the next hour, Abby was introduced to everyone in the office. Even Angela and Dwight held her for a moment. Getting her away from Kelly and Michael had proved to be a challenge. While everyone else kept Abby occupied, Jim snuck back to his car to grab the bassinet and travel swing he had stashed in the trunk. As soon as he stepped off the elevator he could hear Abby's cries coming from inside the office. He picked up his pace and dropped the items off at his desk before heading over to Creed to reclaim his daughter. "I don't blame you for being scared, sweetie," he whispered in her ear as he carried her over to his desk. For the next couple of hours, Jim worked as best as he could on some paperwork in between feeding, changing and entertaining Abby.

Pam watched the entire scene from her seat at reception. She was amazed at how easily Jim had adjusted to being a father. He seemed to be tuned in to his daughter's every need. Any time she cried, Jim instantly knew how to fix whatever was bothering her. As she watched the two of them together, she began to wonder what kind of mother she might have been. She remembered how it had felt to feel that slight flutter of her child moving inside of her. It killed her to know that she would never know what her child would have looked like or what he or she might have accomplished. Before she realized it, a tear had slipped from her eye. She quickly wiped it away before anyone could notice and turned her attention to some faxes she had been putting off all morning.

The office hummed with its everyday activity until Michael emerged from his office around 1:15. "Hey Jim! What time is that sales call of yours today?"

"It's at 2:00. The guy's receptionist suggested I wait until after lunch because he's generally in a better mood then. I was just about to head out," Jim answered deftly while bouncing Abby on his knee.

"Good, good. So…what are you going to do with the bambino while you're gone?" Michael asked, shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

"Oh…ummm…" Jim stuttered. He knew Michael was fishing for a babysitting gig. He quickly glanced at Pam to save him. Unfortunately, the phone had rung right before their exchange.

"Oh! I'll watch her! I would love to babysit! She's just so cute!" Kelly suddenly squealed. Jim wasn't sure how she had even heard their conversation but at least Kelly was a better choice than Michael.

"Oh, ok. I guess," Jim felt instantly uncomfortable. "Kelly, you DO know how to take care of a baby right?" He felt bad asking but this was his daughter's life they were talking about.

"Of course I do Jim! Do I look like some kind of idiot to you? I mean, they eat, sleep and poop. It can't be that hard!" Kelly answered.

Jim could only nod. "Riiiight. Okay. Well, she will probably want another bottle in about half an hour. Make sure you burp her halfway through. Oh, and if she gets fussy, the pacifier usually doesn't work but if I walk around with her for about five or ten minutes she'll usually drift off. Any questions?"

"Nope! We're going to be just fine aren't we?" Kelly squealed as she reached for the little girl. Jim reluctantly handed Abby over before standing up to pull his jacket on. He lifted his messenger bag and kissed Abby on top of the head.

"I'll be back in a little while sweetie! Be good for Kelly okay?" Jim stopped at Pam's desk before heading out the door. "Keep an eye on her. PLEASE!"

Pam smiled back in exchange. "I will," she said with a wink.

Jim shot her a quick smile before heading out of the office, taking one last look over his shoulder.

* * *

_Ten minutes later_

"Oh my gosh! I cannot handle this!" Kelly whined as she stormed in through the kitchen, a crying Abby in her arms.

Pam instantly worried. "Kelly, what's wrong?" she asked, jumping up from her desk and running over to the pair.

"What's wrong is this child will not stop screaming! Seriously, I can't handle this! I don't know what to do!" Kelly began to get extremely emotional and Pam took the fussy baby from her arms.

"But I thought you told Jim you'd have no problems watching her. You have taken care of a baby before right?" Pam asked.

"Well, yeah, I helped take care of my sisters when they were babies. But that was like, 15 years ago!"

It took all Pam had not to roll her eyes at Kelly. She knew she had to do something. Abby was still screaming and there was no way she was giving her back to Kelly. "Okay, I'll make a deal with you. You work reception for a little while and I'll take care of the baby. If you need anything from your desk just call me and I'll bring it out here. Fair enough?"

Kelly nodded quickly and turned on her heel to shuffle over to reception while Pam carried Abby back to the annex. She laid the baby down in her bassinet while searching furiously for a pacifier. Once she finally located it, she was frustrated to discover that the child refused to take it. "Okay Miss Abby, you gotta work with me a little bit. What is it that you need?" Pam checked her diaper. "Nothing there. How about a bottle? Are you hungry?" She began searching through the diaper bag again and came up with an empty bottle. Curious, she called up to the reception desk.

"This is Kelly," the girl answered with a perky voice.

"Kelly! It's Pam. Hey listen…did you give Abby a bottle while she was back here with you?"

"Yeah. It was the only thing that would keep her quiet."

"Did you happen to burp her halfway through like Jim said?

Kelly was silent on the other end of the line.

"Kelly!" Pam was frustrated beyond belief. What was Jim thinking leaving his daughter here with these people?

"I'm sorry Pam! I was going to but every time I took the bottle away, she just kept screaming! I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"It's okay Kelly. I'll take care of it." Pam hung up the phone and scooped Abby out of her bassinet, thankful that at least now she knew what was wrong. "Do you have a tummy ache sweetie? I'm sorry. Let's see if we can make you feel better."

Pam held Abby up against her chest and gently rubbed circles down her back. She had heard once that the motion caused gas relief for babies. When Abby's cries didn't subside after a few moments, Pam began to understand Kelly's frustration. She was about to give up when Toby stepped around the partition.

"You know," he began, "when Sasha was a baby we used to lay her across our laps and rub her back to relieve a tummy ache."

Pam shot him a thankful look and shifted Abby until she was lying across her knees. After a few more minutes, the cries began to subside to gentle whimpers and finally to the regular coos of a happy baby. Once Abby was calm, Pam lifted her back to her chest and carried her over to stand by Toby's desk. "Thank you so much Toby! You're a life saver."

Pam could swear she saw Toby blush slightly as he muttered a quiet "You're welcome". His expression suddenly turned serious again when he asked his next question. "How are things going? I mean, with the whole Jim situation."

Pam still hated discussing the matter, even if she and Jim were coping pretty well. "They're fine I guess. I mean, it's going to be with us forever but everyday is one day closer to getting past everything that happened that night."

"So there's been no awkwardness or hostility between you two? I just want to make sure this isn't going to affect your work or his."

Pam shook her head for emphasis. "Well, there's definitely been some awkwardness. It's kind of hard to avoid in the given situation, but thing seem to be getting almost back to normal."

"Good. Glad to hear it." Toby turned back to his desk. "I've got some paperwork to do but if you need any help with the baby, I'll be right here."

"Thanks Toby! You're the best." Pam patted him gently on the shoulder as she made her way back around the partition, completely missing the smile that crossed Toby's face.

One hour and one successful sales call later, Jim returned to the office, anxious to see his little girl. He was surprised to find Kelly sitting at reception with no sign of Abby anywhere. "Um, Kelly," he began with a worried tone, "where is my daughter?"

"Oh, she's back in the annex. Pam's watching her."

"Pam? I thought you were supposed to be watching her?"

Kelly instantly looked guilty. "Well…" she trailed off before beginning to ramble. "I'm really sorry Jim. She was crying and she wouldn't stop and I didn't know what to do and I tried everything and she just wouldn't stop so I brought her out here and she still wouldn't stop and I just couldn't take any more and Pam took her and said she'd watch her if I stayed out here!"

Jim raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Okay! Well, I'm going to go check on them and if all's well, I'll let you go back to your desk."

Jim slipped through the kitchen and made his way toward Kelly's desk. Noticing Toby was at lunch, he snuck up on his side of the partition and slowly peeked around the corner. Abby was sleeping soundly, cradled in Pam's arms. The sight of the two of them together melted Jim's heart. He was in awe as he watched two of the most important people in his life share this special moment. As he continued to watch them, he saw Pam place a gentle kiss on top of Abby's head and whisper something in her ear that he couldn't make out. After a few moments, Jim stepped away from the partition to make it appear that he had just entered the annex and made his way to Kelly's desk.

"Hey," he whispered. "How's my girl?"

"She's good," Pam whispered back, still gazing at the infant in her arms. "Kelly didn't do any permanent damage."

Jim chuckled lightly. "How long did she last with her?"

"About ten minutes."

The two of them shared a laugh while trying not to wake Abby. "You want me to take over?" Jim asked, holding his arms out.

"No, I think I'm okay. Unless you really want to hold her….she is after all, your daughter."

Jim smiled back at her. Although he had missed Abby in the short time he had been gone, he didn't want to deprive Pam of the obvious joy she had found in his little girl. "No, it's okay. You can keep her. If your arms get tired just put her in her bassinet. You will have to come back to reception though, because I kind of promised Kelly she could have her job back, even if she potentially screwed up my daughter for life."

Pam giggled in return. "Whatever you say." She stood up from the desk chair and made her way back to reception while Jim held the doors open for her.

After only a few minutes at her desk, Pam began to realize how difficult it was to answer the phone and write down a message with a baby in her arms. Reluctantly, she laid the child down in her bassinet and hummed quietly to her as she typed up all of the notes from Michael's conference call with corporate the day before. Before she realized it, it was 5:00 and Jim was making his way over to her desk. "Wow," he said simply.

"What?" she asked with a smile.

"I have to say I'm impressed. Even I can't get Abby to sleep that easily sometimes."

"Well, I did the best I could. I guess she figured she'd settle for me after having to put up with Kelly."

Jim laughed with her. "Do you think she'll ever forgive me for that one?"

"You can just claim temporary insanity."

They sat there in silence for a brief moment, just gazing at each other, both reveling in the comfort of their newly rekindled friendship. For an instant, Jim was swept up to a time three years ago when this woman had consumed his mind and his heart. He quickly broke her gaze and began gathering up Abby's things. Pam stood up to help him. They both reached for a blanket at the same time, their fingertips barely grazing. Pam shivered at the contact and returned to her chair to regain her composure. Jim could sense the reaction also. He silently picked up the rest of her belongings before looking up to meet Pam's gaze. "You heading out?" he asked.

"Oh, um yeah. Just let me get my jacket and I'll walk out with you."

"Oh, I've got it!" Jim turned around to pluck Pam's jacket from the coat rack and held it out for her to slip her arms into it. She smiled at his courteous gesture and allowed him to put the jacket on her.

"Need some help with this stuff?" she asked.

"Actually, yes I could use a hand. Thanks." Pam gently lifted Abby from her bassinet and secured her in her car seat while Jim folded up the portable bed and travel swing. She took the diaper bag and car seat while Jim gathered the rest of the gear and his messenger bag. Once they reached his car, Pam expertly navigated the car seat into its base and double checked the straps to assure they were tight enough before tucking the blanket snugly around the sleeping infant. "Bye Abby! It's been nice spending the day with you," she said quietly to the baby before kissing her on the forehead.

"Hey!" Jim called to Pam before climbing in his car.

Pam turned to look at her friend once more.

"I just wanted to say thanks," he said, making his way toward her.

Pam smiled shyly. "It was nothing. I couldn't subject the poor child to Kelly any longer."

"Yeah, but that's not all I was talking about," Jim answered, taking another step in her direction. "Thanks for, you know, everything. You've really been a great friend these past few weeks. I don't think I could have made it through all of this without you."

Pam could feel the blush creeping up into her cheeks. "Well, I should say the same to you. I can't imagine what I would have done these past few weeks without you to keep me sane."

Jim returned the slightly embarrassed smile. "Well, I should get going. I need to get Abby home before she wakes up. Riding with her awake in the car is quite the challenge."

Pam nodded in understanding. "So I'll see you Monday?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something. I was planning on going house hunting tomorrow to try and find a permanent place for me and Abby. I could use an extra hand with keeping her entertained while I look at these houses. Would you want to come along?"

Pam smiled back at him. "Absolutely I will!"

Jim laughed at the old familiar joke. "Alright! Well, how about I pick you up tomorrow at 10?"

"Sounds like a plan! I'll see you then!"

"Bye Pam!"

"Bye Jim!" With a wave, Pam made her way to her car and climbed in, giving one last look to the man and his little girl in the car across the parking lot.

* * *

A/N: So what do you guys think? You like the pace this is going at? Should I pick it up? Slow it down? Keep it steady? Reviews are always appreciated. They make me smile! And when I smile, Jim and Pam smile! :) Thanks!

* * *


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I know, I know. It's taken me forever to get this chapter up. This one just didn't want to make it from my brain to my laptop! So sorry! This chapter was a real struggle. I'll try to get the next one up a little faster. I'm not sure if I even like this chapter or not but I can't do anything else with it so I'll let you be the judge. :)

Gummy Bear - Yeah, I feel bad for subjecting the poor child to Kelly but as crazy as she is, you gotta love her!  
Moony - Jim's naturally such a sweetheart, it's hard to write him any other way. I can't make him be mean to Pam, it's just not like him  
JimPamJAM - Thanks so much! I'll try to keep the pacing realistic!  
jgrrl - The most important thing I wanted to accomplish was getting the friendship back. Their friendship is the core to their entire relationship. If that's not fixed, they're just not the same  
Mrs. Fitzgerald - Glad you like it! Here's the next chapter!  
prudence - I'm on the fence about the pacing honestly. I hate that they're not together but at the same time it's kind of fun to write the angst stuff  
dancer - I try to bring a little comedy into the story every once in a while. It's hard not to have comedy when Kelly's around  
Abyssion - I'm glad you're still liking it. I hope you'll stick with me 'til the end  
luv0817 - Thanks so much! Their friendship is the best thing about the show in my opinion  
Ghostly - I think you've been reading my stuff without me even posting it! LoL! I'm fully intending to bring the miscarriage arc full circle but I think it's a bit much to spring on Jim at the moment. Keep reading to find out what happens.  
ktface - Love that deleted scene! Kelly is just such a ditz, but you've got to love her! Like I said above, the miscarriage is definitely going to effect their relationship but I don't want to use all my storylines up at once  
lulupanda - I don't like them awkward either. That's a big reason why I wasn't a big fan of season three.  
soccerchick - I'll be bringing that part of the story back eventually. I'm glad you're enjoying it  
lanmwolf - I totally understand being crazy busy. I'm glad you're still enjoying the story. It's been a lot of fun to write. I can't wait until my mind decides to get Jim and Pam to the peak of their relationship  
tophet - I've always thought Pam would be great with her own kid too. Especially a kid like her and Jim. Thanks for sticking with me!

* * *

Pam awoke the next morning to the sounds of her screeching alarm clock. She had set it for 8:30 and was immediately regretting it. It was Saturday; she was supposed to be sleeping in today. She suddenly shot out of bed when she remembered the reason for her early rising. She was going house-hunting with Jim today! Her excitement got the best of her, causing her to launch off the bed and promptly get twisted up in the sheets. Her lack of grace became very apparent when she landed flat on her face on the bedroom floor. "Nice job Pam," she muttered as she pulled herself up to a sitting position. After inspecting herself for any potential bruises, Pam finally climbed to her feet and dragged herself off to the bathroom.

An hour later, she was dressed and ready to go. She had pulled her loose curls into a ponytail which she had slipped through a gray Old Navy baseball cap. Since she knew they would be out most of the day, she opted for a comfortable pair of denim capris and a light pink t-shirt teamed up with her favorite tennis shoes. After a few moments of deliberating, she finally decided on leaving her purse at home. She could just throw her wallet and keys in Abby's diaper bag and carry her phone in her pocket. Upon checking the clock for the tenth time that morning, Pam noticed she still had thirty minutes before Jim was supposed to pick her up. "I'll make breakfast!" she said aloud, then began to wonder why she was talking to herself. She merely shrugged her shoulders and made her way toward the kitchen. She threw some bacon on her George Foreman and pulled some eggs from the refrigerator. By the time Pam heard the knock at her front door, she had two plates of bacon, eggs and toast and two cups of hot coffee on the kitchen table. She skipped giddily to the door and peeked through the curtains before swinging it wide open.

"Good morning!" Jim greeted her happily with Abby resting comfortably in his arms. Pam couldn't help but notice how differently he looked in regular clothes. He was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a red and white striped polo over a long-sleeved gray t-shirt. He had also opted for a black Nike baseball cap.

"Good morning!" Pam returned his greeting, reaching her arms out in request for Abby. "There's breakfast in the kitchen," she informed him as he gladly handed the little girl over to her.

"Pam! You didn't have to make me breakfast!"

"I know, but I had some time to kill and I thought it'd be nice to have something to eat before we headed out."

The pair made their way into the kitchen and sat down to eat their breakfasts with Jim sharing the details of the day he had planned. Apparently, he had called to set up appointments with three different realtors over the course of the day with enough time between each one to give them plenty of time to look over each house thoroughly. "Who knew you could be so organized?" Pam teased him.

"Was that a dig at my exceptional ability to plan out an entire day? Seriously, I'm hurt!" Jim feigned the look of an injured puppy before giving in to their shared laughter.

The finished their breakfast surprisingly quickly and by 10:30 they were all piled in the car and on the way to their first stop, a split-level on the other side of town. Jim had explained that he had set up the meetings with the realtors based on the location of the house. He had opted to start with the one farthest away so they would have less driving by the end of the day. On the drive over, they fell into their usual rhythm of teasing and laughter. They eventually settled into a comfortable silence and let the sounds from the radio flood the interior of the car. As they drove through Scranton, Pam rested her head against the back of the seat and turned it to gaze at Jim. With him watching the road, she could study his features without him really noticing. It was very apparent that Abby had gotten most of her looks from Jim. She had his trademark nose and his mouth. Her eyes however, weren't quite as big and expressive as Jim's. Pam assumed she had gotten those from her mother. As she studied the similarities between Jim and his daughter, she began to realize that even if she closed her eyes, she could still distinguish every feature of his face from memory. The countless hours spent watching him from her desk had etched every dimple and freckle into her mind. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to feel every emotion she had ever fought. She had really and truly missed Jim. Truth be told, she still missed him. Even though he was sitting less than two feet away from her, she still felt like there was a gap between them that couldn't be crossed.

It didn't take Jim long to notice her staring from the corner of his eye. "What? Do I have some leftover breakfast on my face or something?" he asked.

Pam smiled back at him. "No, you don't. I was just thinking about some things."

"Like what?"

She chewed nervously on her lower lip, wondering if she should really say what she had been thinking. Finally, she decided to be bold and just say what was on her mind. "Like the fact that even though you're sitting right there next to me, it feels like we're still living in different states."

Jim nodded his head in understanding. He knew exactly how she felt. He had slept fitfully the past few nights just trying to figure out what he was doing with his life, especially when it came to Pam. He had loved her for years while she was engaged, and even married to another man. He remembered how he had spent June 10th. He had gone out with some of the guys from work and Andy had convinced him to try some of his favorite liquor. Unfortunately, Jim had a very low tolerance for alcohol and spent half the night puking his guts up. The other half had been spent fighting back tears of anger, frustration, and loss at the thought that Pam, his Pam, was marrying another man. Once he began to sober up the next day, he realized just how much of a mess he had made of his apartment. Pictures from his days in Scranton lay scattered all over the living room floor. Contents of a box of keepsakes were strewn over the kitchen table. He had aimlessly picked up a blue/bronze yogurt lid medal and ran it though his fingers, thinking about the countless opportunities he had let slip through those same fingers on too many occasions. He had thought several times about jumping in the car and driving back to Scranton in order to tell Pam everything he felt for her. He wanted to tell her about every laugh she had given him and every tear he had cried for her. He wanted her to know every wish he had made for her dreams to come true. Most of all, he just wanted her to hear how much he loved her. He wanted to be able to hold her in his arms and not feel guilty. He wanted to kiss her just because he could. He wanted to fall asleep next to her every night and wake up with her right beside him. He essentially wanted everything he could never have and it broke his heart to think about it. As he sat next to her in the car, he began to wonder if those feelings were still there, only buried by the remnants of too many broken hearts.

After a few brief moments of silence, Jim finally began to speak. "I know what you mean. It kind of feels like even though I'm back in Scranton and back at my old desk, I still haven't really…come back. Does that make any sense?"

"More than you know." Pam answered. "But I have to say…I really wish you would completely come back. I guess when I heard you were moving back to Scranton, I thought you would be the same old Jim, in spite of everything that's happened. I know that was a completely unrealistic expectation, but I was still hopeful. It's just…things were so simple back then. Our lives were pretty predictable. We came to work, played pranks on Dwight, did a little bit of work, and then went home. Now it just seems like we never know what's going to happen from one day to the next. I know that's just part of life but it's really, really scary, especially considering everything we've been through in the past few months. I guess I'm just afraid that something is going to sneak up on us and take you away again."

Their next turn found them in the driveway of the house they would be looking at. Before getting out of the car, Jim turned in his seat and placed his hand on top of Pam's in reassurance. "I just want you to know that I'm not going anywhere. Not anytime soon at least. That's a promise. And trust me, if I was, you would be the first to know."

Pam smiled back at him, grateful that he still knew exactly what to say to make her feel better, even after all these years apart. As they stepped out of the car, a short blonde woman was there to greet them. "Hello! You must be Mr. Halpert!" she said, stretching out her hand in greeting.

"Yes, and you are Mrs. Greene I presume?" he responded, taking the older woman's hand and giving it a firm shake.

"That's correct. And is this Mrs. Halpert?" she asked, gesturing toward Pam.

"Oh! No…no, I'm just a friend along for the ride," Pam answered quickly.

While Jim made small talk with the realtor, Pam opened the door to the backseat and removed Abby's car seat from the base, setting it on top of the trunk while she closed the door.

"And who is this?" Mrs. Greene exclaimed, making her way toward Pam and the baby.

"This is my daughter, Abigail," Jim answered proudly before turning toward Pam. "Hey, do you mind moving her to the hood for a minute? I've got to get something out of the trunk."

Pam nodded and lifted the carrier to move it to the hood of the car. Jim emerged from the trunk a few moments later with some sort of black frame on wheels. "What is this?" Pam asked.

"Here, let me show you," Jim answered, making his way over to lift Abby's carrier from the car. He expertly navigated the car seat onto the frame and listened for the definitive _click_ to let him know it was secure. "It's essentially a stroller with no seat; you can just set the car seat on it and go."

"That is actually quite interesting. They didn't have those when I…" Pam stopped herself mid-sentence. She hadn't brought up the subject of her miscarriage with Jim and she could only assume he knew nothing about it. The people in the office knew of course, but most of them were courteous enough not to bring up such a painful memory.

Jim looked at her quizzically, expecting her to finish her sentence. However, she was rescued by Mrs. Greene ushering the trio up to the front of the house.

She walked them slowly through each room of the spacious house, pointing out the little touches that made it unique. After they had explored each room, Mrs. Greene stepped outside, leaving Jim and Pam in the living room with Abby, giving them time to talk things over.

"Well, what do you think?" Jim asked. Pam could sense from his tone that he wasn't entirely thrilled with the house. It was nice but not really worth the long drive to work every day.

"It's nice," Pam offered.

Jim heard the hesitancy in her voice as well. "Not the right one is it?"

She shook her head slowly. "You can do better. Besides, it's not like this one was your only choice. We still have two more to look at."

Once they had finished one more walk-through of the house, Jim stepped outside to talk to Mrs. Greene while Pam pushed Abby around in her stroller, trying to entertain the infant while her father talked business. He finally wandered his way to their side a few moments later to inform them that they needed to leave to make it to the next house on time. Jim and Pam quickly navigated Abby and her things back into the car and started off down the road again.

The second house was much like the first, a split-level two bedroom, but this one had a fenced in backyard and a basement that had recently been remodeled into a small, but comfortable apartment. Abby began to fuss as soon as they pulled into the driveway, demanding food and attention. Jim expertly began mixing up the bottle while Pam unbuckled the child from her car seat. Once Jim finished with the bottle, he reached out his arms to take Abby.

"No, it's okay," Pam said, barely above a whisper. "I'd like to feed her."

Jim could sense a deep twinge of emotion in Pam's voice that he couldn't quite place. With a shrug, he handed over the bottle and a burp cloth. While Pam held the infant in her arms, Jim went about fastening a bib around her neck. He was amazed at how much easier Abby was to handle when he had a spare set of hands around. Perhaps the most surprising of all was how comfortable Abby was with Pam. She had never been an extremely fussy baby but she definitely knew who she liked and who she didn't. He remembered her crying hysterically the day before as she was passed around the office. The only people she had seemed calm with were Phyllis, Pam, Oscar, and surprisingly, Michael. Now, watching Pam cuddle Abby against her chest as she fed her a bottle, he was amazed at how naturally caring for a baby came to Pam. He remembered in the days before he left for Stamford when they would talk about their futures. She had always been afraid of being a bad mother one day. As he watched her with Abby, he wondered how that could be possible, and decided to tell her so. "You know," he began, "You're pretty good at this whole baby thing. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd done this before."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Jim wished he could take them back. The look of pain on Pam's face was enough to break his heart. "Pam, what's wrong?"

Pam knew there was no stopping the tears that were rolling down her face. She saw Jim reach out to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder and quickly recoiled at his actions. She knew none of this was his fault but the sting of his words had cut her to the core.

"Pam…" Jim tried again, "talk to me."

She knew she should tell him, that she should trust him enough to share the pain of her past with him. However, something held her back. Pam shook her head in defeat. "I'm sorry. I can't. Not yet."

She could see the twinge of hurt cross his face. "Don't you trust me anymore?" he asked with a pained expression.

"It's not that!" she exclaimed before quickly checking her tone and lowering her voice. "Believe me Jim, I trust you more than pretty much anyone else in the world. It's just, a lot of things happened while you were gone. There are parts of my life that I'm not quite ready to revisit yet. You can understand that, right?"

Jim wanted to be angry with her. He wanted to yell at her and tell her it was stupid to keep all of her feelings bottled up inside. He should know. He had done it for years and it had gotten him nowhere. However, the kinder, more rational side of Jim caught up with him before his tirade could begin. He simply nodded his head. "I can't say it makes me happy to hear you say that but I guess I can understand it. Just know that I'm here whenever you're ready."

In that instant, Pam could feel some of the old feelings of the past creeping into her heart. This was her Jim. This was the guy that always knew exactly what to say when she was having a rough day. He was the person that believed in her and supported her through every crazy idea and big dream she had. "You're amazing. You know that?" she asked him, a huge smile creeping across her face.

Jim could swear he felt himself blushing. "Well, you're pretty amazing yourself, Beesly. After all, you seem to have magically lulled my daughter to sleep," he said, nodding toward the sleeping child in her arms.

Pam raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wow! It looks like I did! I guess she likes me!"

The pair stood in the driveway talking for a few more minutes until the realtor arrived to give them a tour of the house. They decided not to bother with the stroller and Pam toted the sleeping infant around in her arms. As the realtor walked them from room to room, Pam studied every corner of the house. It was a very cute home. The master bedroom connected to one of the bathrooms, complete with a Jacuzzi. The second bedroom was reasonably sized and appeared to have belonged to a child of the previous tenant. The bottom half of the wall was painted a bright green and separated from the white at the top by a wall border of various zoo animals. The hardwood floors were well worn with various scratches and dings, probably from a small child playing roughly with their toys. As they wandered through the rest of the house, they were shown the larger-than-average kitchen, a warm and comfortable living room, and the newly remodeled basement apartment. Once again, the realtor left Jim and Pam alone in the house to discuss the matter privately.

"Well?" Jim asked, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. "Thoughts? Opinions?"

Pam nodded, while giving Jim the look of a person deep in thought. "I think…" she paused for a dramatic effect before continuing, "that my right arm has gone to sleep."

The two of them shared a laugh as Jim reached out to take Abby from Pam's arms. "Here, I'll take her for a while." As soon as Abby was removed from her comfortable position, the child began to cry uncontrollably. Jim quickly shuffled through the diaper bag and produced the bottle he had mixed earlier. "She's probably starving since she fell asleep on you earlier," Jim explained as he began to feed Abby.

Pam watched the two of them in awe. They really were a pair. She was amazed at how naturally fatherhood had come to Jim. Never in a million years would she have imagined the goofy, playful Jim she played pranks on Dwight with would be such an amazing dad. "How do you do it?" she asked him.

"Do what?"

"This. Being a single, working father."

Jim shrugged in modesty. "I honestly don't know. I mean, most of the time, I don't have the first clue about what I'm doing. I've learned with her, it's all pretty much trial and error. There's no right or wrong way to do anything. It all depends on what the kid likes. I never once thought that being a father would be anything like this. As difficult as it is at times, at the end of the day, she's still my little girl. I still love her and I still have to take care of her. I just do what I can."

Pam smiled at her best friend. "You've really changed. You know that?"

"In a good way I hope?"

"Absolutely."

After talking a few more moments about the pros and cons of the house, Jim promised the realtor he would call her within the week to let her know. Once they were all back in the car, Jim backed out of the driveway as he and Pam debated where to eat for lunch.

After a five minute discussion, the two of them couldn't settle on anything definite. "Well, I have an idea," Jim finally piped up. "How about we go back, way back to when I first started at Dunder Mifflin?"

"You're just trying to make me nostalgic so I'll agree to go to Cuginos," Pam quipped back at him.

"Wow. You're good! But come on, it's Cuginos! They have the best Italian in the area!"

"Fine. Fine. We'll go to Cuginos. But you owe me."

"Perfect. Just another excuse for me to take you to lunch."

Pam turned her head so fast, she thought she'd given herself whiplash. Was Jim flirting with her? More importantly, was she flirting back? So many thoughts and emotions were wrapped up in their relationship; she was surprised they were able to function as normal friends.

After a few more minutes of driving, they wound up in the Cuginos parking lot. Jim and Pam climbed out of the car and began collecting Abby and her things from the backseat. The lunch crowd had thankfully thinned out and they were able to get a table immediately. They spent the next hour talking and laughing about any and everything while sharing a heaping bowl of fettucini alfredo and garlic bread. Once they had finished their meal and changed Abby's diaper, they headed out for the last stop of the day. This one was a two story house located only a few blocks from Pam's apartment. When they pulled into the final driveway, the two of them gaped at the house in amazement. It was absolutely breathtaking. The bottom floor of the house was enhanced by a huge wraparound porch complete with hanging plants, rocking chairs and a swing. A small garage sat in the far corner of the fenced in backyard. As they began to unload Abby from the backseat, the realtor, who had apparently been waiting for them inside, greeted them enthusiastically. He looked to be in his mid-forties with thinning brown hair and glasses.

"Mr. Halpert! It's great to finally meet you!" the man reached out to shake Jim's hand.

"You too Mr. Henderson! Are you ready to show me my future home?"

"Well, I sure hope so. And who are these pretty little ladies?" he asked as Pam emerged from the other side of the car with Abby's stroller.

"This is my best friend Pam, and my daughter Abigail."

"Alright! Well, let's not waste any of your time. I'm sure you're going to love this place!"

Mr. Henderson led them up the front steps and opened the door to reveal a small foyer. The formal living room was clearly visible on the left side of the foyer and the dining room on the right. It seemed the house made one large circle. Mr. Henderson led them from the dining room to the kitchen. A sliding glass door opened up to reveal a huge patio complete with a grill and covered sitting area. A door from the kitchen led to a back hallway that housed the guest bedroom and bathroom. At the end of the hallway was the door to a small office which connected to the living room they had seen earlier. As they made their way back to the foyer, Mr. Henderson showed them to the staircase. On the second floor, they were shown the master bedroom and bathroom, the second bedroom with a half-bath, and the upstairs living room and rec room.

"Where does that door go?" Pam asked, as they were about to leave the rec room.

"Oh! Thank you! I almost forgot about that! It's one of the best things about this house! Why don't you open it up and take a look for yourself?" Mr. Henderson said with a wink.

Pam stepped up to the door and grasped the gold lever firmly. She slowly cracked the door open and peeked through. She gasped in amazement at what lay on the other side. "Jim! You have to come see this!"

Jim stepped up behind her and opened the door a little wider. "Wow! That is pretty cool!" The two of them stepped through the door and onto an expansive terrace that overlooked the wooded area behind the house. "I thought you would enjoy this," Mr. Henderson began, "One of the previous tenants was an artist and he had this terrace built as his outdoor studio. He would spend hours out here painting the scenery."

Jim watched Pam's face in excitement. She pushed Abby around the perimeter of the terrace, admiring the beauty of the woods as she walked. He knew she was in love with this house. "Would you all excuse me for a moment?" Jim asked. "The bathroom is the second door right?"

Mr. Henderson nodded and Jim made his way down the hallway. Something was tugging at the back of his mind but he couldn't quite figure it out. Ever since they had set foot on that terrace, something had been bothering him. Pam however had the opposite reaction. She had fallen in love with the house, based solely on that feature. As he looked himself in the bathroom mirror, he finally realized what was bothering him. It wasn't that he didn't like this house. In fact, he loved this house. It was only slightly more in price than the other two they had looked at and had several more benefits. The thing that was holding him back was the same thing that had held him back from everything else in his life: Pam. The fact that she loved this house made him realize that while it was amazing, it wouldn't be perfect unless she were here too. That fact scared the hell out of him. He had way too much going on in his life to fall back into the same old patterns of the past. He couldn't let himself fall in love with the shy receptionist again. It had only been four months since he had lost Karen. He still missed her every day. When he would stretch his arm across the bed every morning he was always disappointed to find her side empty. He missed the feeling of her small frame nestled against him. He missed the long talks that he often fell asleep in the middle of. Most of all, he hated the constant nagging of loneliness he had felt since that fateful day. Lately, the only time those lonely feelings seemed to subside was when he was with Pam. Something about her brought him to a comfort level that he couldn't have imagined a few months ago. This mixture of emotions left Jim feeling completely confused. For the first time in his life, he had no idea what he wanted.

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A/N: Thank you guys so much for all the reviews! It's amazing how they continue to grow with each chapter! Please give me some feedback on this one! Like I said up top, I'm not even sure _I_ like this one so I completely understand if you don't either. LoL! Any suggestions or opinions are appreciated. Thanks!


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Well, as you can see, this chapter came a little more easily than the one before. Maybe because I've been in bed all day with a pinched nerve in my back watching the entire second season of The Office. :shrug: I actually really like this chapter which probably means no one else will. LoL! Oh well! Reviews are love!

ktface - Thanks so much! I'm not sure why I didn't like the last chapter but I'm glad everyone else seemed to. Honestly, dialogue is the hardest thing for me to write so I'm happy you thought it was good.  
Ghostly - Gotta love the melodrama! I thought it was a bit too soon to go too far into the miscarriage but it needed to at least be brought up for later circumstances. Thanks for the review!  
LittleMissBones - That is definitely the ideal ending but what fun would that be to write? LoL!  
elly - Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like it!  
Moony - Wow...I did incorporate a lot into that chapter didn't I? Emotional overload! I'm happy to see that you like the journey they're on.  
JimPamJAM - That's actually the description of my dream house. The emotional struggle they're in continues in this chapter. Hope you like it!  
prudence - Thank you so much! I love dealing with their internal drama more than the external. Jenna and John are both so good at conveying the inner emotions of Jim and Pam on the show, it's like they say more in a look then they do in words. I tried to incorporate that into my story as well.  
Gummy Bear - I was definitely a little hesitant about Pam being so forward with her thoughts but after dealing with Roy for three years and being forced to hide her thoughts and feelings, I feel like she would feel a little more liberated around Jim without the weight of Roy's opinions on her anymore.  
Abyssion - There's definitely a LOT more in store. Hope to keep you intrigued until the end!  
princess - Sorry to keep you up so late! I'm guilty of staying up late to finish reading a fic on occasion as well. I'm glad you found it so intriguing. Hopefully you can enjoy it 'til the end!  
tophet - Thanks so much! I'm glad I'm doing Jim justice.  
LittleWords - Thanks for reviewing! Good to hear that you've been enjoying it all along. As much as I love the post-Casino Night fics, I just felt like I wanted to do something different. Thanks!

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Three weeks later, Jim and Pam were back at the house with the terrace, only this time they were preparing for Jim to move in. It hadn't taken him long to decide that he would be an idiot to let this house get away from him. He found it funny that something as material as a house was too important for him to let go of but he had let something as special as true love slip through his fingers on more than one occasion. On this particular day, he had enlisted the help of his father, Pam, his old friend Mark and Mark's new girlfriend Rachel. Jim and his dad started on the living room and rec room, Mark and Rachel took the master bedroom, and Pam started work on Abby's room. She had insisted on Jim letting her paint the little girl's room as a house-warming gift. For the past hour, anytime Jim had set foot near the room, Pam had slipped into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind her. She had a picture in her head of what she wanted the room to look like and she hoped Jim would like it as well. Even though it still stung her straight in the heart that she had never been able to do this for her own child, losing herself in the artwork of Abby's bedroom walls brought her to a level of peace she couldn't comprehend. Her face broke into a huge grin when she heard Jim's footsteps treading down the hallway. Putting her paintbrush down on the tarp, she stepped out of the room again and closed the door before Jim could catch a glimpse.

Jim smiled at her as she bounded into the hallway. "It's a good thing I trust you. For all I know you could be painting pictures from some of Dwight's mythological stories on the wall."

"Well who says I'm not?" Pam teased with a wink. "And if you don't stop coming down here, this house is never going to be finished by the time you move in!"

"Fine. Then I guess you don't want to know that there's pizza downstairs in the kitchen. I'll just let you get back to work." Jim turned to head in the direction of the stairs.

Pam rushed past him and called back over her shoulder, "There won't be any if I get there first Halpert!"

Jim laughed and took off down the stairs after her. The two of them raced into the kitchen and reached the counter with the pizza boxes at the same time, both gasping for breath.

"Hey kids! No running in the house!" Jim and Pam turned at the booming voice of Jim's dad entering the kitchen.

Pam giggled slightly before answering. "Sorry, Mr. Halpert."

"How many times do I have to tell you, little lady? The name is Eric. Mr. Halpert was my father. And I was just kidding about the running in the house thing. Jim here is old enough to know how behave in his own house." Jim's dad put his arm around his son's shoulder and gave him a quick squeeze. With the two of them standing side-by-side, Pam could easily see the family resemblance between the Halpert men. The tall, lanky build Pam had become familiar with over the years was mirrored in the older man as well. They had the same green eyes and brown hair. And it was blatantly obvious that the nose Jim and Abby shared came from the Halpert side of the family. Pam smiled at the two men before reaching for one of the paper plates that were stacked on the counter.

"Hey Jim, did you happen to tell Mark and Rachel that the pizza was here?" Pam asked as she swiped a piece from the pepperoni box.

Jim froze in place and glanced at her guiltily. "Oops."

Pam giggled and shook her head in disbelief. "I'll go get them. You guys better not eat all the pizza while I'm gone." She poked Jim in the arm for emphasis and took off up the stairs to get Mark and Rachel from the master bedroom.

"So how are things, son?" Eric asked once Pam was out of earshot.

"Pretty good I guess. I mean, Abby's finally starting to sleep through the night so that's definitely making things easier."

"You know that's not what I mean."

Jim met his father's stern look with one of his own. "I don't know, Dad. I mean, it's been almost five months but the pain is still as fresh as it was that day."

Eric clapped Jim on the back sympathetically. "It will get easier. I promise. You just have to live for the good times and try not to focus on the bad."

"Yeah, and Pam's been a great friend through all of it. She's helped me out with Abby when I needed it and she's made me laugh when all I want to do is hide in a corner somewhere."

"Yeah, she's pretty special isn't she?"

Jim gave his dad a warning look. "Don't do that."

"What? You can't put your life on hold forever. Why not take a chance?"

"We're friends, dad. And right now that's really all I need her to be."

"But you were in love with her for years. Those kinds of feelings don't just disappear you know."

"Ok, I'll admit, I was in love with Pam before I left for Stamford. But she wasn't mine to love. She was engaged to Roy. She _married_ Roy. And I married Karen. It's not like I just fell out of love with her overnight. It's been over three years since I left."

"So you're telling me that all those feelings you had for her are completely gone?"

Jim turned to look his dad in the eye. He was about to answer when Pam bounded into the kitchen with Mark and Rachel in tow.

"Trying to keep all the pizza for yourself, man?" Mark asked as he snatched two plates from the counter, passing one to Rachel.

"Yeah, well, I knew you'd end up eating it all before anyone else got any so I thought I'd even the playing field a little," Jim shot back at his buddy.

"Hey, why don't we go out on the patio?" Pam suggested. "It's nice outside."

Everyone nodded in agreement and carried their plates and drinks to the covered area of the patio. Jim felt relaxed as he listened to the conversation surrounding him. He had missed spending quality time with people. He had dinner with his family every Thursday night but rarely did he have a free minute to spend with friends. Most of his evenings were consumed with feeding, bathing and changing Abby and struggling to get her to sleep. This evening was a nice distraction. As his eyes traveled around the group, they finally fell on the auburn-haired girl sitting directly across from him. Her t-shirt was speckled with flecks of yellow paint while tiny spots of green were visible on her cheeks and hands. He smiled as he watched her laugh at one of Mark's stupid jokes. She really was amazing. Everyone at the table adored her. He was amazed at how her clever quips managed to flow into the conversation with ease. It was like they all sat around like this all the time. It was nice.

After finishing their food, everyone returned to their designated rooms to finish painting. For the next few hours they worked on their rooms diligently, taking a few breaks to get something to drink and rest their tired arms. By 6:30, Pam was putting the finishing touches on the bedroom walls. As she dabbed the last bit of paint onto the wall, she took a step back to admire her work. _Perfect!_ After doing a brief walk-through of the room, touching up little spots here and there, Pam was satisfied with her finished project. She picked up all of her tools and threw them in a bucket to be rinsed out before heading down the hallway to the living room. She could see as soon as she entered the room that the men had already finished in here and had apparently moved on to the rec room. She stepped through the freshly painted living room and into the rec room where Jim and Eric were finishing the second coat of paint.

"Hey," she said, as she took a step into the room. "You guys look like you're almost done in here."

"Yeah, we just have to finish up this second coat and we'll be done," Jim answered. "How is Abby's room coming along?"

"I actually just finished. I was coming to get you so you can give your opinion."

"Great. I'll be in there just as soon as Dad and I finish in here."

Jim's dad cleared his throat. "I think I can manage. Pam's put in a lot of hard work today doing that whole room by herself. If she wants you to look at it now, I suggest you do it."

"You sure?" Jim asked, wiping the excess paint from his brush.

"Absolutely. You kids get lost. I'll finish this," Eric winked at Pam before turning back to the wall he had been working on.

"Alright. Let's see what you've been up to Beesly." Jim gestured for Pam to lead the way and followed her down the hallway toward Abby's new bedroom.

As they reached the bedroom door, Pam turned to face Jim. "Ok, close your eyes."

Jim did as told and felt Pam take his hands to lead him into the room. He heard the door close behind them and Pam slip up beside him. "Ok. Open them."

Jim was amazed at the sight that lay before him. Pam had certainly outdone herself. The room had been painted a soft yellow with a huge tree painted into the corner of the room. The branches of the tree stretched over its two shared walls. On a few of the branches, she had painted various kinds of birds peeking over the area Jim had designated for the crib. Around the windows of the room, Pam had carefully designed a pattern of leafy ivy trails. On the wall above where the crib would be, she had painted Abby's name in swoops of curvy letters. The front wall of the room housed Pam's favorite part, a drawing of an angel with long dark hair, cradling a tiny baby in her arms. Jim froze in amazement as he stared at the angel. "Pam is that…" his voice trailed off as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

She nodded quietly, and placed a comforting hand on his back. "I thought it would be a nice way for Abby to know that her mom is always watching out for her. I know I never met Karen but I saw a picture of her when I was helping you pack. I hope there's at least some resemblance."

"It's perfect," Jim choked out through his emotions. "Thank you."

Jim reached out and pulled Pam into a warm embrace, resting his chin on top of her head. Pam sighed deeply at the comfort of being in Jim's arms. She laid her head on his chest and could feel his heartbeat against her cheek. She reveled in the emotions that flooded her heart. She could faintly smell a mixture of soap and cologne along with the paint fumes that clung to his shirt. After a few moments, she pulled away slightly and looked up to meet Jim's expectant gaze. She felt the slight graze of his fingers on her cheek as he brushed away the flecks of dried paint. Their gazes held in a conversation all their own. Every emotion in Pam's heart, she could see reflected back at her through Jim's eyes. Pam jumped nearly a foot when they heard the sound of the door being opened and Mark and Rachel stepping into the room. "Hey guys," Mark greeted them, completely unaware of the tension he had walked in on.

"Wow! Pam! Did you do all of this by yourself?" Rachel squealed in amazement. "It's beautiful."

"Oh, yeah, thanks," Pam answered, pulling herself back to reality.

"She's right Pam, this is pretty amazing. Maybe I should hire you to paint my house!" Mark teased.

"Sorry man. I have her reserved on call," Jim jumped in.

Pam blushed in embarrassment at the praises being given to her. "Well, I really had a lot of fun, even if it did get a little lonely back here by myself. I guess I'll have to hire myself an assistant."

"Well, you wouldn't have been all alone back here if you hadn't insisted on this being a surprise!" Jim teased her.

"I know. But I liked it being a surprise. I'm just glad it got a good reaction."

Pam and Jim exchanged another emotion-filled glance before shifting away from each other uncomfortably.

"Well, if you guys don't mind, we're going to head out. We were just coming to let you know that the bedroom is done," Mark piped up.

"Oh ok. Well, thank you so much for all your help, man. I really appreciate it," Jim reached out to shake his friend's hand and clapped him on the back in a friendly hug.

The four of them exchanged pleasantries and Jim followed Mark and Rachel down the stairs. Pam wandered down the hallway and made her way into the rec room where Jim's dad was still working on the second coat of paint. "Need some help?" she asked, picking up a brush.

"Don't you think you've worked hard enough today? Eric asked with a smile.

"Not possible," Pam laughed and began to apply a coat of paint to the wall.

The two of them painted in silence for a moment before Eric spoke up. "I just want to say that I really appreciate everything you've done for Jim lately. It's good to see him happy again."

Pam smiled as she felt the color creeping into her cheeks. "I'm glad he's happy too. He deserves it. Jim's a really great guy. I don't think you can attribute him being happy just to me though. That granddaughter of yours has a lot to do with it too."

Eric gave her a hearty laugh. "Well, I guess I'll have to agree with you there. It's hard to not be happy when that little girl is around. But really, you've done a lot for Jim. And as his father, I just want to tell you that you're my favorite of all his friends."

Pam laughed with him. "Thanks. And you're my favorite of my friend's dads."

The two of them continued chatting while they painted until Jim reappeared in the room. "Glad to see you two are getting along so well," he chimed in.

Jim, Pam and Eric worked for about another hour until they finished the rec room. Once they were done, the three of them worked on rinsing out the brushes and rollers and throwing the wet supplies into a bucket to dry. "Well, I'm going to head home," Eric finally piped up. "What time do you think you'll be by to get Abby?"

"I guess we could leave now too." Jim turned to look at Pam, "You ready to go?"

"Sure," Pam shrugged. "Let me get my purse and we can head out."

* * *

Three hours later, Jim and Pam were pulling into the driveway of his rented house. Larissa had insisted on feeding them dinner before they left with Abby. She made the argument that once they had to deal with Abby's bedtime routine, they wouldn't have time for a proper dinner. Once they got to the house, Pam unloaded Abby's things from the backseat while Jim toted the carrier and diaper bag inside. "You want to stick around for a while?" Jim asked as they maneuvered their way around the living room. "We could watch a movie."

"Sure," Pam piped up, a little too enthusiastically. "I mean we don't have to work tomorrow so it's not like it matters if we stay up late."

"Right," Jim laughed nervously. "But I have to give Abby her bath and get her to bed first. So if you don't mind waiting…"

"Oh, no. It's fine. Actually, why don't I go to Blockbuster and get a movie? I can see you've already packed all of yours," she said, gesturing toward the pile of boxes in the corner.

"Sounds like a plan. Hopefully this won't take too long. She's gotten a lot better at going to bed here recently."

"Ok. Well, I'll be back in a little while." Pam picked up her purse from the table by the door and headed down to her car.

* * *

After picking out the movie, Pam had decided to swing by the grocery store to pick up the necessary ingredients for banana splits. After the long day of painting, she felt they deserved the treat. As she carried the groceries into the house, she could still hear Abby crying in the back of the house. She placed the items in the kitchen and made her way in the direction of the noise. Pam peeked around the corner of the room and saw Abby screaming furiously as Jim tried to rock her to sleep. "Need some help?" she asked Jim.

"I don't know what her problem is tonight. She's usually really good when she's been at Mom's all day," Jim replied, shifting Abby around to rest on his chest.

"Mind if I give it a try?" Pam reached her arms out for the baby, a gentle look of compassion on her face.

"Be my guest." Jim handed over the screaming child and stood up to give Pam the glider he had been sitting in.

Pam took a seat in the glider and reclined it slightly. She shifted Abby around until her head rested on Pam's chest and her body lay down her stomach. Pam rocked the chair slowly and hummed quietly into Abby's ear. Jim watched in amazement as the child's frantic cries soothed to a mild whimper. After a few more minutes of gentle rocking, Abby was finally asleep. Pam stood up and moved to place the baby in her crib. She turned on the electronic mobile that was attached to the side of the crib and covered Abby with a light blanket. "Goodnight sweetie," she whispered, brushing her hand gently over the baby's head. She could feel Jim move up behind her as she leaned over the edge of the crib. "Goodnight Abby," he said, placing a kiss on his fingertips to rest on Abby's cheek. "So what movie did you get?" he whispered in Pam's ear.

Pam shivered slightly at the feel of his warm breath on her ear. The closeness of his body to hers was intoxicating. She grabbed the side of the crib to keep her knees from turning to jelly. "Um, I actually picked up a couple so we'd have a choice," she finally answered.

"Great! Let's see them!" Jim headed in the direction of the living room.

"You go ahead and pick out the movie. I have a surprise to take care of in the kitchen," Pam suggested to him.

A few minutes later, she emerged from the kitchen with two bowls and two spoons in her hand. She found Jim sitting on the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table and remote control in his hand. "I had a feeling you'd pick this one," she said, gesturing toward the DVD menu on the screen.

"What? You have to admit Will Ferrell is one of the greatest comedians of his time! _Anchorman_ is a classic! And in my defense, you _did_ pick this out."

"Fair enough. Although I can't be held responsible if I fall asleep in the middle of it." Pam dropped down on the couch next to Jim and passed him one of the banana splits.

"Thank you!" Jim mumbled through a mouthful of bananas and ice cream.

Once the ice cream was done, Pam took the bowls to the kitchen and rinsed them in the sink before returning to the movie. "Don't worry, I paused it for you," Jim told her as she resumed her seat on the couch.

"Thanks but I'm sure I wouldn't have missed anything important," she teased, settling down into the couch cushion and propping her feet up next to Jim's.

Thirty minutes later, Jim felt Pam's head rest against his shoulder. He smiled to himself realizing that she had, indeed, fell asleep during the movie. Knowing that his arm would soon fall asleep if he didn't move it, he shifted slightly so her head now rested on his chest instead of his shoulder. Now that his arm was free, he draped it lightly around her and rested his chin on her head. Before he knew it, he was asleep also. Little did he know, Pam had woken up when he moved her and had drifted back to sleep with a huge smile on her face.

* * *

A/N: So I was totally going to make them watch Blades Of Glory but then I remembered Jenna is in that movie so I changed it to Anchorman. Oh well, you gotta love Will Ferrell! As you can see, our favorite characters are getting one step closer to where we want them so any grand ideas you guys have, feel free to throw them my way! Thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: So I know this one is a little on the short side but I had to get this out of the way in order to progress the story. I just hope I did it well. On a side note, who else was disappointed with the non-proposal? I guess it works best for the show because the day they get married is the day the show will probably be over but it still sucks! LoL! Oh, well, that's what fanfiction is for!

henantz - That was another of my spur of the moment ideas. They seem to pop up in the middle of chapters and I just have to throw them in. LoL!  
Gummy Bear - Thanks. I got the idea from a lady at my church who's decorated a few nurseries. She was telling me about some of the things she had done and I thought it sounded really cool  
Moony - I'm glad you liked that line. I wasn't sure if it was fit to be included yet or not. Don't worry, there will be kissing. Just not in this chapter. LoL!  
JimPamJAM - Can I assume your name is Rachel then? Hehe! I'm glad you liked it  
railroad - Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it!  
dancer - Have no fear, the talk is near. (like how that rhymed?)  
Abyssion - I like to think of it as how they were in season two. Both on the edge of admitting how they feel but to scared to say anything just yet  
ktface - Thanks! I loved the angel idea! Not sure where it came from but I liked it. LoL! Don't worry. They're definitely going to be talking more about the past three years. I wouldn't dream of putting them together without the full story being unraveled.  
princess - I always pictured Jim's dad being a pretty perceptive guy. A lot like Jim. Hopefully this chapter won't keep you up all night either. LoL  
Ghostly Green - Remove yourself from the dark place! LoL! I've actually thought about that. Who knows? I might have to do a sequel when this story is done. :)  
Shorty - Thanks! Hope you continue to enjoy it!  
tophet - Don't worry. Baby brain hasn't gotten the best of you yet! You make perfect sense! LoL! With that being said about Pam's secret, I hope you like this chapter  
lulupanda - Every ten minutes huh? You think I can type that fast? I'm not Mavis Beacon! LoL! J/K! Here's your next chapter though! The awkwardness is slowly beginning to drain away. Just have faith and stick with me!

* * *

The next few weeks passed quickly for Jim. Between work, moving into the new house, and taking care of Abby, he barely had time to sleep. However, Pam had become a frequent visitor every weekend, dropping by to help with unpacking and decorating. Jim had zero talent in the home décor department so he was grateful for the subtle hints Pam would throw out about what color curtains to get or where to add a few throw pillows in. He had however, drawn the line at the lacy sheers she had suggested for the upstairs windows. "You will not emasculate me that badly," Jim had teased her. On this particular Saturday night, Jim and Pam were downstairs in the dining room playing an intense game of Life. Jim's car was driving around with three little stick people, two pink and one blue, while Pam's was full to capacity with four blue people and two pink. As they drove around the board hitting the random spots that represented the milestones of a person's life, Pam's mind drifted to thoughts of her own game of life. Several of these milestones she had hit already, some had lingered in front of her for a while before zipping by, while others had passed her by without her even noticing. She was so lost in thought, it took Jim calling her name three times before she snapped back to reality.

"Sorry, my mind drifted away there for a minute I guess," she said, shaking the thoughts from her mind.

"Well, I can't say I blame you. If I had a car full of kids I think I'd be at my wits end too," Jim teased her.

He could see her stiffen as soon as the words left his mouth. She reached up to play with the necklace that was tucked away under her shirt. He knew she only did that when she was nervous or hesitant about something. He watched as she tried to cover up the uncomfortable feelings by returning her attention to the game. "Pam," Jim said quietly, willing her to meet his intent gaze.

She reluctantly raised her eyes to meet Jim's. Without a word, she knew what he was thinking. "Not now Jim."

"Fine" he muttered, crossing his arms to stare at the game board. However within a split second, his frustration got the best of him. "You know what, no, it's not fine. Pam, what is going on with you? You're just…not you. What happened while I was in Stamford?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Can we please just finish the game?" Pam pleaded, her eyes beginning to fill with unshed tears.

"No, we can't. Not until we talk about whatever this thing is that's bothering you. Pam, you're my best friend. It's killing me to see you so upset and I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."

"It doesn't matter Jim. It's done. It's not like you can do anything to change it."

"Well, it's obviously still bothering you. It doesn't help you to keep it all bottled up inside. Believe me, I know better than anyone how that story ends."

Pam looked up to meet his gaze once again. Something lingered in Jim's eyes that she couldn't identify. His look of intensity caused her to squirm uncomfortably. Their feelings were beginning to terrify her.

"Alright. You want to talk? Let's talk," Pam stated, a level of irritation creeping into her voice.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Don't turn this around on me. Whatever happened had nothing to do with me." Jim reached across the table and placed a comforting hand over Pam's. "Please Pam…don't keep shutting me out. I'm only trying to help."

The sincerity in Jim's voice was enough to cause the tears Pam had been holding back to begin to fall. She nodded slowly as she took a calming breath. "Okay. But let's move to the living room. This could take a while so we might as well get comfortable."

Jim nodded as they rose from their chairs. "I'll be in there in a minute. I'm just going to go check on Abby."

* * *

A few minutes later, Jim made his way into the living room, a cup of tea in one hand and a grape soda in the other. He took a seat on the couch next to Pam and passed her the tea.

"I didn't know you drank tea," she said, giving a quizzical look at the cup she was holding.

"I don't." Jim shot a small smile at her. "But you're here so often I figured I'd go ahead and have some stored up, just in case."

Pam managed to offer him a smile in return. He was always one step ahead when it came to her. It was comforting to know that someone knew her well enough to be able to take care of her every little need or want. That was a feeling she had never known before, not even with Roy. It warmed her heart and calmed her nerves enough to finally begin to talk.

"The reason I've been so sensitive lately actually stems back to about two years ago."

Jim nodded and leaned closer, hanging on to every word.

"Roy and I almost had a child. We weren't sure if it was a boy or girl, the ultrasounds were never conclusive enough. But when I was six months pregnant, my sisters took me out to have a little fun. Nothing major, just a night on the town. Roy kept telling me not to go. He said it wasn't fair of me to leave him home by himself but I didn't care. The way I saw it, he went out without me all the time so it was plenty fair." Pam sat in silence for a few moments, her hands beginning to shake with the emotional intensity she was feeling. She took a few deep breaths to clear her head and relaxed a little when Jim rested his hand on her arm in reassurance. "For once, Roy was right. I shouldn't have gone out that night."

Jim began to lightly rub her arm in comfort. "What happened Pam? What is it that has you so torn up?"

"While we were out that night, we walked past this convenience store on the corner. Apparently, they were getting robbed and we didn't know it. As we were walking down the street, the guy who robbed them came running out and began pushing and shoving anyone in his way. He ended up shoving me into a park bench. That's the last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital. From what the doctors told us, the force of the impact caused severe trauma to the baby. There was nothing they could do." The tears were flowing steadily down Pam's face and, to her surprise, Jim's as well. The knowledge that he was sympathizing with her gave her the courage to finish the story. "I was really upset, as you can probably imagine. And it never seemed like it bothered Roy. It was almost like he was…relieved. After I came home from the hospital, he went out drinking with his friends and came home completely trashed. I let it go, thinking maybe that was just his way of coping but then he started yelling at me. I mean, really yelling. I've never heard him like that before. Basically, he threw the blame on me. He said if I hadn't been so selfish and insisted on going out that night, we would still have our baby. And I guess to some extent, I believed him. That's why I've been so sensitive about Abby. I guess being around her makes me realize what I could have had, if I'd have only been more careful."

Jim grabbed both of Pam's hands and moved to sit on the coffee table directly in front of her. "Pam," he stated calmly, barely above a whisper, willing her to meet his eyes. "Listen to me. There is no reason for you to feel guilty about what happened. It was not your fault. Do you understand? There's nothing you could have done differently to prevent it. Just like there's nothing I could have done to prevent what happened to Karen. It was an accident. A tragic accident. Blaming yourself is not going to make the pain go away any sooner."

"But if I had just stayed home…" Pam began before Jim cut her off, placing a gentle finger over her lips.

"You didn't know Pam. No one could blame you for wanting to get out of the house when you were six months pregnant. Karen was on bed rest for about a month of her pregnancy and she went absolutely stir-crazy." Jim tenderly tipped her chin up to look her in the eyes. "The only person blaming you is yourself. You've got to let go of the guilt Pam. Otherwise, it's going to haunt you for the rest of your life."

Pam could hold back her emotions no longer and began to sob uncontrollably, placing her head in her hands. Jim quickly moved back to her side on the couch and pulled her into his arms. He guided her head to rest on his chest and began gently stroking her hair, trying desperately to ease the pain she was feeling. "Everything is going to be okay Pam. I promise."

Pam raised her head to look at him. "How can you promise that?"

Jim gently brushed a tear from her cheek. "Because I'm going to be looking out for you every step of the way. And I would fight the devil himself if he tried to hurt you."

Pam managed a small smile and laid her head back on Jim's chest. "You're the best. You know that?"

"Well, I try," Jim teased, wrapping his arms tighter around Pam as her cries subsided to an occasional sniffle.

"So what do you say we finish our game, Beesly? Loser owes the winner dinner at Chili's."

Pam punched him playfully in the chest. "You know for a fact that I'm not allowed to go to Chili's anymore! Or have you forgotten, Fat Halpert?"

"Oh yeah…The Dundies fiasco!" Jim laughed, remembering the crazy events of that night. "How could I forget your drunken acceptance speech?"

"Ohhh, don't remind me," she laughed with him. "That was the worst hangover ever! How about a deal? Loser buys winner dinner at a place of their choosing."

"That's the best idea you've had in a while, Beesly. You're on!"

Jim stood up from the couch and reached out his hands to help Pam up from her seat as well. They gave each other a warm smile before heading back to the dining room, each still not letting go of the other's hand.

* * *

A/N: Again, I know it was kind of short and they didn't deal with EVERYTHING that went on over those three years but I think it's a good start. Agree or no? Let me know! Reviews are always appreciated. They make me smile!


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Sorry again that it's taking me so long to update. Writer's block has become my new best friend. LoL! Let me know what you think about this chapter!

JimPamJAM - Yeah, now that Pam's let go of the guilt, she's able to really go after what she wants. You'll see more of that in this chapter  
dancer - I had to include Chili's and the Dundies. That was one of my all time favorite episodes! They both make a cameo in this chapter as well  
Ghostly - Your comment actually inspired a part of this chapter. Thanks so much for all your detailed reviewing!  
ktface - Yeah, I knew I had to come up with a way to lead into it and Life seemed to work pretty well. I'm glad you think I'm staying in character with them. It's getting harder to do now that they're venturing into situations we've never seen them in before  
Mrs. Fitzgerald - Gotta have the Dundies love!  
Shorty - I'm glad you like it. Here's some more interaction for you  
soccerchick - I had mentioned it briefly in a previous chapter but I told a few more details in the last chapter. Thanks for reviewing!  
lulupanda - I consider angstyness to be a word even if spell-check doesn't agree. LoL! I'm sorry to keep you waiting so long! Here you go!  
jgrrl - Thanks so much for reviewing! I hope you continue to enjoy it!  
tophet - Your wish is my command! Hopefully I'll fulfill a few more with this chapter!

* * *

It was Saturday night and Pam was standing in her camisole and panties, staring blankly into her closet. Tonight she was going to dinner with Jim on her dime, due to her losing badly at Life. _How ironic, me losing at Life,_ she thought as she continued to mentally try on everything in her closet. As much as she told herself that tonight wasn't a date, she still couldn't help but want to look nice. Her usual jeans and sweaters or t-shirts just wouldn't do. Finally, she reached to the back of her closet and pulled out something she hadn't worn in a long time. Slipping the fabric over her head, she let the folds of the dress fall over her body and settle on her curves. She moved to stand in front of her full length mirror and admired the woman that was reflected back at her. It was merely a pink cotton sundress she had purchased for a summer vacation that she and Roy had never taken.

Roy's brother Kenny had produced a pair of tickets to some sporting event that just so happened to be during the time their trip had been planned for. Pam had been furious, insisting that they both worked hard at their jobs and deserved the much needed break. Roy had merely brushed her feelings off and told her to go visit her parents for the week if she wanted a vacation so badly. Pam had been so angry that she had thrown almost all of her belongings into the car, gone to her parents house, and refused to come home for nearly two weeks. She had called work to tell them that she was having a family emergency and would be out of town for a while. Her mind was made up not to go back home unless Roy really and truly changed the way he acted toward her. When he had shown up at her parent's doorstep to talk to her, Pam saw it as a step in the right direction and agreed to come home.

She shuddered now, standing in front of her mirror, at what a horrible decision she had made. She should have never come home. Hell, she never should have even married Roy Anderson. It had been an act of desperation from an insecure woman. A woman Pam never wanted to be again. As she studied her reflection in the mirror, she could definitely see a different woman staring back at her. Her eyes had a softer touch to them. No longer did they look hard and lost. These were the eyes of someone who knew what she wanted, someone who was finally free to do anything and everything she had always dreamed of. She knew if the mirror had x-ray vision, she could look inside at a heart surrounded by a stone wall. However, the wall wasn't as strong as it had been. The top of the wall was loose and crumbled, threatening to fall. Looking closely, you might be able to see the cracks that were beginning to form around its perimeter. And she knew without a doubt that those cracks flowed together to spell out one name: Jim. Without him, Pam knew she wouldn't feel this liberated, this free. She found it ironic how when she was all alone, the chains of insecurity had held fast, but when that one person was right next to her, she felt more free than ever before. Pam smiled at her reflection in the mirror and could almost feel more of the bricks around her heart begin to give way. Taking one last look, she moved to the bathroom to begin working on fixing her hair so it looked just right.

* * *

"What do you think? Jacket or no?" Jim asked his sister Emily, who had agreed to watch Abby while he went out with Pam tonight.

"Well, that depends. Is tonight considered a date or just two friends going out to settle a bet?" Emily teased her older brother.

"Very funny, Em. Seriously though, should I go with the jacket or not?" Jim nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he checked his reflection in the mirror for easily the tenth time that night.

"Well, look at it this way, with or without the jacket, you'll still look like you do every other day at the office." Emily shrugged and lifted a whimpering Abby from her swing. "You see how silly your daddy is, Abby? He's getting all worked up over how he looks when the girl has seen him in sweats, covered in paint and yet still likes him enough to go to dinner with him."

Jim shot a warning glare at his little sister before returning to his closet. Emily was right. No matter what he wore, he would look the same as he did every day. Before he realized it, Emily had slipped up behind him and reached her hand into his closet, grabbing a few hangers and tossing them on the bed. "Try that. I guarantee you it will meet your approval and hers."

Jim emerged a few minutes later in a pair of black dress pants and a royal blue oxford shirt, complete with one of his more casual black sport coats.

"Perfect!" Emily complimented. "And you can lose the jacket if it gets uncomfortable and still not look like a complete bum."

Jim just rolled his eyes. "Thanks sis." He reached out his arms for Abby and she came to him willingly. "Hey sweetie! Are you going to be good for Aunt Emily tonight while Daddy goes out with Pam?"

Abby responded with a giggle before spitting up all over Jim's coat.

* * *

Forty minutes and another sport coat later, Jim was pulling up to Pam's apartment complex. He climbed out of the car, straightened his coat and reached in to pick up the flowers he had purchased for this evening. He had easily spent fifteen minutes staring blankly at the variety of flowers before settling on the collection of lilies he now held in his hand. Roses had seemed too fancy but daisies didn't seem to be quite enough. The lilies however, felt just right.

Jim made his way up to Pam's apartment and tentatively knocked on the door. He was left nearly breathless at the vision that appeared.

Pam smiled and blushed slightly at the look on Jim's face. She had to admit, she definitely looked…different. She had worn her hair down and curled it softly at the ends. The pink dress she had picked out looked amazing on her and she was wearing more makeup than she had in a while, but not enough to draw serious attention.

"Hi," she managed to get out as she also admired Jim's look for the evening.

"Hey," he answered in normal fashion, making his way through the open door into her apartment. "These are for you," he said, extending the flowers to her. "I hope you're not allergic to lilies or anything." Jim wanted to kick himself for how stupid he sounded but for some reason, he was having a hard time coming up with anything intelligent at the moment.

"No, no. They're perfect!" Pam exclaimed, bringing the flowers to her nose to smell them. "Let me just go put these in some water and we'll be ready to go."

Pam returned from the kitchen a few minutes later and picked up her purse. "Ready?" she asked cheerily.

"Absolutely." Jim placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her out the door and down to his car.

"So where did you decide on?" Pam asked as they began driving through Scranton.

"Oh, you'll see," Jim answered, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.

Pam read his expression and began to worry. "What are you planning Halpert?"

Jim just stared straight ahead, the broad smile never leaving his face.

"What am I going to do with you?" Pam teased as Jim reached over to turn the radio dial.

* * *

A few minutes later, Jim was pulling his car into a very familiar parking lot.

"No! No way!" Pam squealed while trying to conceal her giggles. The logo of the bright red chili pepper illuminating her face as Jim got out to open her door. "I'm not interested in getting arrested tonight."

"Oh come on Pam! It's been over four years. I'm sure they've forgotten about your public intoxication banishment by now. Besides, where else can you get the incredible Awesome Blossom?"

"I hate you." Pam smiled at him as he helped her out of the car and led her into the restaurant. As they stepped through the door, Pam nervously swept her eyes over the area, looking for any members of management that might throw her out.

"Calm down Pam," he whispered, his breath lightly tickling her ear. "Didn't I promise I'd look out for you?"

Pam looked up into Jim's eyes and beamed a huge smile at him. Jim winked in response as the hostess showed them to their booth. They ordered their drinks and the Awesome Blossom and settled in to their normal routine of talking and teasing.

Jim watched her as she recovered from a fit of laughter over one of his impressions. He loved to hear her laugh. In all of those years he had watched her from his desk, his favorite thing to do was throw her a look or send her a random IM just to hear her peals of laughter float over the space between their desks. Six months ago, he never would have dreamed he'd be sitting in a booth at Chili's, sharing dinner and laughter with Pam Beesly.

"So, besides the fact that you wanted to completely humiliate me, what was your reason for picking this place?" Pam asked as she munched on a fry.

"What? You mean the pure and simple fact of humiliating you isn't enough?" Jim teased her with a wink. "Actually, this place brings back a lot of great memories. I seem to remember having to pick you up off the floor, right over there." Jim pointed at the area near the bar.

Pam laughed, trying desperately to recall the events of that night. "I would argue with you but I honestly don't remember much about that night. The next morning was hard to forget though. I don't think I've ever felt that horrible in my life. Even morning sickness didn't compare to that." Pam clammed up instantly after bringing up her former pregnancy, suddenly more interested in the tiled pattern of the table than her conversation with Jim.

"Hey," Jim said sweetly, covering her hand with his. "It's okay. You don't have to feel weird talking about things with me."

"I know. It's just hard to think about. I think I've kept it inside so long, it's just going to take some getting used to in order to get it all out."

Jim nodded in understanding. "I was that way for a while after Karen died. At first I didn't want to talk to anyone. It was actually my brother that got me to open up. He basically sat me down and told me to suck it up because I had a daughter to raise and I couldn't waste my time sulking around about something I couldn't change. Ever since then, it's gotten easier to deal with day by day."

"What was she like?" Pam asked, still not moving her hand from underneath Jim's. "I mean, I only briefly saw that picture of her when we were packing your stuff and you haven't really said much about her since you moved to Scranton."

"Well…" Jim began, returning his attention to his food before continuing. "Karen was a different kind of woman. She was one of those career-driven types. Nothing ever stood in her way from getting what she wanted. Would you believe _she's_ actually the one who asked _me_ out?"

"Are you being serious?" Pam's eyes widened in shock.

"Completely serious. I had no idea she was even interested. I mean, we got along really well from the beginning. It was nice. It reminded me of…"

Jim trailed off before finishing his sentence, realizing what he would reveal if he continued.

"Of how things were when we first met?" Pam continued for him.

Jim jerked his head up in surprise, meeting Pam's intent stare with one of his own.

"I mean, we hit it off really well when we first met too. We became friends really easily and we had a lot of fun together." Pam chewed her bottom lip nervously, trying to worm her way out of the hole she was rapidly digging for herself.

"Yeah," Jim stopped to collect his thought before continuing, fearing that if he didn't think things through, he might say something he regretted. "That night we actually went out to this restaurant that she went to all the time. It was seriously, the dumpiest hole in the wall that you've ever seen. The plates were all mismatched, it had old torn up linoleum floors, and the tile on the walls was cracking. But the food was amazing! I've seriously never had such great food in my life!"

"Really? Sounds interesting. How long were you guys together before you got married?"

"Well, I proposed on our six month anniversary. We got married eight months later on August 11th."

"Wow!" Pam hung intently on every word Jim was saying. It was rare that she got him talking this openly and she wanted to take full advantage of the situation. "So was Abby planned or…"

Jim smiled at the mere mention of his beautiful daughter. He felt somewhat awkward discussing all of this with Pam but something inside him urged him to continue. "Yes and no," he responded. "She wasn't exactly planned but we weren't actively preventing it either." He was hesitant to ask his next question but it was something he had to know.

"What about you and Roy? Were you guys planning on having a child when you got pregnant?"

Pam returned her gaze to the table once again, keeping her eyes as far from Jim's as possible. "Yeah, we were. Roy had been going on and on about how he wanted a son that could 'carry on the family name'. He wanted someone he could teach how to play sports and take out on the wave runners. I reminded him on more than one occasion that we might possibly have a girl but he didn't want to think about that I guess. When I got pregnant, he was on cloud nine. He went out and bought all this sports related baby stuff and started talking about painting the spare bedroom blue. He was convinced that we were going to have a boy no matter what."

"And what about you?" Jim asked. "I mean, I know women have that 'mother's intuition' thing. Karen was convinced she was having a girl as soon as she found out she was pregnant. What was your guess?"

Pam smiled as she remembered the day the test finally showed a plus sign. She had called her doctor to schedule an appointment for the next day to have an official test done. When the doctor had confirmed that she was indeed pregnant, Pam hadn't been able to stop smiling. As she drove home from her appointment, she had rested her hand gently on her stomach. Without a doubt, she knew that the child inside of her was her future daughter. She had never understood the mother's intuition thing until that very moment. She was having a girl. Of that she was positive.

Bringing herself back to the present, Pam answered Jim's question. "I'm pretty positive I would have had a girl. Like I said, the baby was never angled right to be able to tell by the ultrasounds but I would have put money on a girl. I guess that's why I'm so attached to Abby. I guess with her I can pretend, just for a little while, that my baby girl is still with me." Pam brushed a stray tear from her eye as she tried to finish her dinner.

"Well, I can tell you for a fact that Abby adores you just as much," Jim offered her with a smile. "I mean, you certainly have a way with that child. I think sometimes she responds better to you than to me."

"You're her dad. She's supposed to give you a hard time. Somebody has to." Pam shot him a wink.

Jim smiled wistfully. "Yes, her mother certainly would be proud of the way she handles me, wrapped around the little finger and all."

"Well, I think it's awesome. You're a great father Jim. She's a lucky little girl."

Jim smiled across the table at the woman sitting opposite him. He couldn't help but feel that he was the lucky person in this relationship.

* * *

As Jim drove in the direction of Pam's apartment, he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that the evening was already over. He hadn't had this much fun in a while. Once they reached her apartment complex, Jim climbed out of the car and opened Pam's door, following her toward her apartment. As they reached the door, Pam turned around to face him.

"Well, Halpert, I had a great time tonight," Pam shot him a smile before turning her attention to digging through her purse for her keys.

"So did I. I mean, after all, I did get a free meal out of the deal."

Pam punched him playfully in the arm as she continued to rummage through her purse.

"Ok, seriously Beesly, do you have one of those Mary Poppins bags that has no bottom or something?" Jim teased her, laughing at her franticly pawing through all of the items in the bag.

Pam shot him an annoyed glare before playfully holding up her middle finger at him.

Jim raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "Wow Beesly! I didn't think you were a first date kind of girl."

Pam quickly stopped her frantic searching and looked up to meet Jim's gaze. "A first what?" she asked.

Jim suddenly realized what he had said and quickly tried to cover, "Oh, I just mean there was dinner and laughing, and I did bring you flowers. So it was like a date but not really…" he trailed off, unsure of how to dig himself out of this hole.

Pam let Jim's words sink in for a moment. It _had_ been just like a date. And to the outside observer, they would have appeared to be a happy couple enjoying an evening at dinner. "Jim," she finally began, "Be honest with me. Were you really considering this to be a date?"

Jim shifted his gaze to his nervously shuffling feet. "I…I mean…would it be fair to say I don't know?"

Pam lifted one of her trembling hands to rest on Jim's arm. "Jim," she said simply, willing him to meet her eyes. "It's okay. I won't be mad either way. I'll be honest with you. I spent more time getting ready to go out tonight than I have for a long time. I guess a part of me was hoping that tonight would be a fresh start. Like, we could finally put all the bad things that have happened in the past few years behind us and try to start being happy again."

Jim took her small hands in his own and beamed a huge smile at her. "I'd like that. But first, we have to find a way to get you into your apartment," he shot her a wink before taking her purse from her to do his own investigation of its contents.

"Don't you know it's not very nice to look through a woman's purse?" Pam said, poking him in the ribs as he dug through the bag.

"Oh relax Pam. It's not like I'm going to come across anything I haven't seen before. I was married you know."

"Fine. But I can tell you right now, my keys are not in there!"

Jim reached his hand in once again and pulled it out with a flourish, whipping her keys from their hiding place.

Pam just shook her head in disbelief. She reached to grab the keys but Jim jerked them out of her reach at the last second.

"Give me my keys you dork!" she squealed as she tried to jump high enough to reach the keys, which were now dangling over her head.

"Nope. You have to say the magic word," Jim shook the keys for effect.

"Please?" Pam asked, giving Jim her best puppy dog eyes.

"Oh! Close! But not quite!" Jim tapped her on the nose as he emphasized each word.

Pam had finally had enough. If he wanted to play dirty, so would she. Almost on instinct, she grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him roughly toward her. The action caused Jim to stumble and brought their faces within mere inches of each other. Forgetting all about the keys, Jim brought his hands up to either side of Pam's neck and gently brushed her lips with his own. Pam responded immediately, snaking her arms up around his neck as his travelled lower to wrap around her waist. Jim deepened the kiss, cupping his hand gently around the back of her head. Neither of them noticed when the keys tumbled from Jim's hands and crashed to the ground at their feet.

* * *

A/N: So? What do you guys think? I kind of feel like I'm not doing as well with this story as I was when it started. I need some motivation! :Pulls out all the episodes I have on tape: Hopefully this will help! Reviews are always very helpful also! :hint hint nudge nudge: :)


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Wow! I cranked this one out pretty quick. This is another one of those filler chapters. It's not very long but it's got enough in it to keep you wanting more (that's what she said). This chapters is going to start the bridge from friends to wherever they end up. And you have to build a bridge before you can cross it, so that's my argument for this, short, seemingly pointless chapter. Thanks to JimPamJAM for giving me the inspiration to steer the story in this direction.

princess - I guess I was just feeling a little lost because it's not really angst anymore but it's not fluff yet either. It's that middle area that's hard to get right. Thanks for the compliment!  
iwantphillyjim - Love your pen name! I went and re-watched some Season 3 to get a little inspiration. I actually make some of those YouTube videos so instead of watching one I ended up starting to make one. LoL! I'll post it when it's done.  
Little Sparrow - That tired huh? LoL! Thanks for the compliments! Hopefully I don't disappoint  
JimPamJAM - That is a great question. One I hadn't even thought of. That being said, I decided to dedicate at least the next chapter to answering that question. Thanks for the inspiration!  
Shorty - Thanks so much!  
prudence - Like I said up above, I think I was just stuck between the angst and the fluff and didn't know where to go. Now I have at least some idea. Hopefully, these next few chapters can start to wind down to where I want it to go. Does that make any sense? LoL! Thanks for the offer to help! I'll definitely take you up on that!  
LittleMissBones - As much as I did NOT want to put that kiss in yet, I thought it was unfair to leave you guys hanging for so long. And it seems to have paid off because ya'll apparently love it! LoL! More fluff to come, I promise  
Abyssion - You do have a point there. It's hard not to be predictable when you have a story like this. I guess in the beginning it was easy to throw in plot twists that you didn't see coming but now that the dust has started to settle, it's harder to do anything surprising. I think I was just stuck in a "where the hell is this going" rut. LoL! Thanks for the encouragement!  
lulupanda - Yay for being your favorite person! LoL! Yes, our old faithful JAM is beginning to shine through. Gotta love it!  
dancer - Yes, another Chili's reference. I guess I'm just stuck on The Dundies. Glad you liked it!  
Mrs. Fitzgerald - You have no idea how much I was dreading putting that kiss in. I guess I was afraid it would be too soon but I guess everybody liked it so yay!  
ktface - Love The Sandlot! Thanks so much for the encouragement! I'm definitely liking happy JAM more than dramatic JAM.

* * *

Pam stumbled into the Dunder Mifflin office around 8:45 on Monday morning. She hadn't seen or heard from Jim since he had left her apartment on Saturday night. Her thoughts swirled around in her head as she dragged her feet to the break room to start a batch of coffee. She never imagined a simple kiss could be so confusing. For the past 36 hours she had tried and failed to push the memory of Jim's lips on hers from her mind. So much had been said in that simple act but just as much had been left unsaid as well. Pam had never been more confused in her life.

She remembered back to a time when Jim had been a constant lingering presence in her life, even though she was engaged to another man. Nights when she would lie awake crying because Roy had left her at home yet again to go hang out with his friends, thoughts of Jim had brought comfort to her otherwise tumultuous life. Even then, things hadn't been this difficult. Back then, her choice had been obvious. She was engaged to Roy. She had been with him for ten years. It wasn't like she could just throw that all away for a simple crush on a co-worker, which she had convinced herself was all it was. Now, her options were much more limited but the situation was ten times more difficult. As her co-workers began to shuffle into the office, Pam made her way back to reception with her steaming mug of coffee in hand. She was getting the messages off the voicemail when Jim finally entered the office, mere seconds before 9:00. As he passed her desk, she offered him a shy smile which he returned with a couple of light taps on the desktop before snatching a jellybean from the container. Pam watched him in his familiar routine of removing his messenger bag and hanging it from the back of his chair, following suit with his jacket soon after. He then sat down at his desk and switched on his computer, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt while he waited for it to boot up. Pam was so distracted by his routine that she had to listen to the messages twice to make sure she got all of the information she needed. Once she finished checking the messages and filing the faxes that had come in overnight, Pam glanced up at the lanky salesman that sat across from her. He was focused intently on an obviously important phone call and nervously tapping his pen against the desk. When he hung up the phone, Jim stood up and wandered his way over to the reception desk.

"Hey," he said, crossing his arms on top of her desk.

"Hey," she answered back, "What's up?"

"Well, I can see you're obviously very busy." Jim gestured toward Pam's desk, which was obviously devoid of any work. "But is there any way you can get me a time off request form?"

"Sure." Pam dug through the filing cabinet behind her desk, finally withdrawing the correct form. "Planning a vacation?" she asked simply.

"Not exactly. I'm actually taking a long weekend to go to Stamford."

"Oh." Pam began busying herself with straightening the items in her pencil cup to avoid meeting Jim's eyes. "Are you going to visit friends?"

"I guess you could say that. I'm actually taking Abby to visit Karen's family. They haven't seen her since we moved and I know they're dying to get their hands on her."

"Oh. That'll be nice for them. I'm sure it's hard on them, not being able to see her whenever they want."

"Yeah. They've been begging me to visit for the past few months but…I don't know. I guess the thought of going back there is kind of scary. I left a lot of memories behind in Stamford."

"I'm sure they understand, Jim. It's not like you would intentionally keep Abby away from them. When are you planning on leaving?"

"I was actually hoping to go this weekend. As far as I know, Michael doesn't have anything big planned for Friday so I was hoping to leave right after work on Thursday."

"Cool. I guess I'll just have to find someone else to annoy this weekend," Pam teased him.

"Pam, you are far from annoying," Jim answered her, gazing straight into her eyes. "Actually, I was hoping you'd help me out by getting my mail for me while I'm gone. I mean, I know it's only going to be a few days and call me paranoid but I don't want my mail sitting in my box all weekend just waiting for someone to rifle through it and steal my identity."

Pam tried to stifle a giggle. "You know Jim, you're starting to sound a lot like a certain crazy salesman that sits across from you."

"Ouch! That hurt Beesly! Just for that, I'm getting a pet snake that you'll have to feed while I'm gone too."

"Well, I think your pet snake is just going to have to suffer because I'm not getting anywhere near it!"

"That's what she said."

Pam glared at Jim as he doubled over in laughter. "You are truly a sick man," she teased. "And you'd better get back to your desk before Dwight reports you to Michael for misuse of company time."

"Alright fine. I'll behave. But only if you promise to have lunch with me."

Pam met his gaze and smiled up at his towering figure. "It's a date," she said with a wink before picking up a pile of papers to throw in the shredder.

Even Dwight couldn't wipe the goofy grin from Jim's face.

* * *

The next few days passed quickly for Jim and Pam. Michael had approved Jim's time off request and he was prepared to leave straight from his parent's house when he picked Abby up that afternoon. He worried about leaving things with Pam the way they were. They still hadn't talked about the kiss and Jim began to wonder if maybe he had just imagined the whole thing. Pam didn't seem to be acting any differently toward him and he wasn't sure how to take that. Did that mean the kiss didn't really mean anything to her and she was just trying to forget it? Or was she just as confused as he was about this whole thing? Thoughts and questions circulated through his brain so fast, he could barely maintain focus on the most mediocre tasks. They had spent all their lunches together during the past week and had walked out to their cars together every day. Jim knew that the whispers from three years ago were beginning to flow through the office again. Everyone was watching them, waiting for the moment when they could be the first to spot some juicy tidbits of gossip to pass on to their fellow employees. By Thursday afternoon, Jim was beginning to grow tired of the whispers and stares every time he would cross the space between his desk and Pam's. When 5:00 finally rolled around on Thursday, Jim lagged behind, pretending to finish up some last minute paperwork before heading out for his long weekend.

"Hey. You're officially on vacation. Wrap it up Halpert," Pam said, coming up to his desk and leaning her hip against the side of it.

"Just finishing up some last minute stuff before I head out," Jim answered, filing away the papers he had been working on and grabbing his things from the back of his chair.

The pair walked out the office door in silence with Pam making sure to lock it behind them. The ride down on the elevator was equally quiet. It wasn't until they reached the parking lot that they turned to speak to each other.

"So," Pam began. "I guess I'll see you on Monday?"

"Yeah. I'm going to try to get back sometime Sunday afternoon but we'll see how it goes."

Pam nodded and on impulse, wrapped her arms around Jim's neck. "Have a safe trip," she whispered, her warm breath gently tickling his ear. "And call me when you get to Stamford."

"I will. Take care of yourself Beesly. And make sure you take care of Izzy while I'm gone."

"Izzy?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Yeah, I told you I was getting a pet snake. His name is Izzy and he's very sensitive so try not to act to disgusted when you see him. He's not the prettiest but once he works through his confidence issues I'm sure he'll be a normal, happy snake." Jim gave her one of his famous lop-sided grins and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "I'm gonna miss you this weekend."

"You're such a dork," Pam teased, offering him a beaming smile in return. "I'm gonna miss you too."

Jim gently took her face in his hands and placed a light kiss on her forehead and proceeded to lean his own against it. "I'll see you when I get back."

Pam closed her eyes and leaned closer to him, placing her hands on his forearms and gently skimming them down to the warm palms of his hand. "Bye Jim," she whispered as he slipped his hands gently away from hers.

Jim slid into his car, gave Pam one last look and a wave and began driving in the direction of his parent's house.

Pam fumbled through her purse, smiling at the memory the simple action awakened, and finally withdrew her keys, complete with one new shiny silver key: the one to Jim's house.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I know there's not much to this one but I'm excited to get to the next chapter. But you know what gets me more excited to write the next chapter? That's right! Reviews! Love 'em! Can't wait to read 'em!


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: I got this one out as fast as I possibly could. This was a hard chapter to write but I like how it turned out. I hope you guys like it too! Edited - forgot to put the divider lines in!

ktface - Thanks so much! I agree that Jim and Pam probably wouldn't have the guts to talk about the kiss until they were practically forced to. Have no fear though. It will be coming up again soon.  
dancer - Well, this one is definitely a lot longer. There's a few phone conversations too. Hope you like it!  
Little Sparrow - I love Izzy too! He makes a brief comeback in this chapter and future ones so keep reading!  
JimPamJAM - Have you not heard that I've been deemed the queen of cliffhangers? LoL! Here's your chance to meet the Filippelli's!  
princessdeleon - I like to think it's not nearly as complicated as it started out being. I can't see them making any fast progressions in their relationship with the circumstances surrounding them. This chapter will begin to start knocking down those walls of complication  
waiting4love - I didn't want to bring the Chili's kiss up but, yes, I was hinting at it when he brought up that it held good memories for him. The heart-to-heart will come soon enough, have no fear! ;)  
Shorty - Thanks so much! Here's a longer chapter for you!  
Abyssion - Thanks for the compliment! It's good to hear that the fillers even keep you intrigued. Here's where we start finding out about Jim's relationship with the Filippelli's. Enjoy!  
tophet - Thanks a bunch! Glad to see you're still with me! Enjoy!  
Mrs. Fitzgerald - I love the warm gooeyness of Jim and Pam too! LoL!  
lulupanda - We shall see where the road takes our favorite couple. I don't think I'm even sure yet. LoL!  
JinxCokeJam - Welcome aboard! I'm glad you like the story! Hopefully you'll enjoy it to the end!

* * *

It was nearing 9:30 before Jim finally pulled into the Filippelli's driveway. Despite putting Abby into a larger, more comfortable convertible car seat, the child had thrown a fit for most of the trip. The normally two and a half hour drive had taken them over three and a half hours with the frequent stops Jim had to make to soothe a crying Abby. As he switched off the ignition, Jim looked up at the house that he had once frequented. He and Karen had spent many lazy Sunday afternoons at this house, visiting family and enjoying Sunday dinner. Before climbing out of the car, Jim flipped open his cell phone and tapped out a quick text to Pam.

_Just got here. Have to visit with the family for a little while. Will call you as soon as I have a chance._

Jim was tempted to put something cheesy like "wish you were here" or "miss you already" at the end of his message but decidedly pushed the send button before he could rethink it. He tucked his phone back into his pocket and proceeded to climb out of the car. Jim couldn't help but smile at the familiar feeling of his feet hitting the smooth asphalt of the Filippelli's driveway. Memories quickly flooded his mind as he made his way around the car to remove Abby from her car seat. Lifting her up into his arms, he gently brushed down a few of her stray hairs and hoisted her high on his hip. "Ready to meet the rest of your family sweetie?" he asked the infant, who was too busy toying with the buttons on his shirt to even acknowledge his words. Taking one last deep breath, Jim made his way up the driveway to the front door of the house. He could see the flashing light of the downstairs TV illuminated through the front windows. As soon as he pressed the doorbell, he could hear the shuffle of feet making their way quickly to the door. Within seconds, a petite dark-haired woman had swung the door open.

"Jim! You're here!" Tina Filippelli instantly threw her arms around him and ushered him into the house. "And this must be my granddaughter!" Tina reached out to stroke the little girl's hair and held her arms out. "Do you want to come see Nana?"

Abby quickly hid her head in Jim's shoulder and clung to the front of his shirt. Tina looked heartbroken.

"I'm sorry," Jim began, "she's just really tired right now. She didn't sleep a bit on the drive here and it's long past her bedtime. Right kiddo?"

Abby nuzzled her head deeper into Jim's shoulder and began to whimper. "Thought so," Jim stated. "I'm sorry to have to put her to bed already but if I don't, she's not going to be any more accommodating tomorrow. After a good night's sleep, she'll be dying for attention from whoever wants to give it to her."

Tina nodded in understanding. "Let's just take her in here so Harold can see her real quick before she goes down."

Jim let Tina lead him into the living room where Harold Filippelli was relaxing in his recliner, obviously having fallen asleep in front of the TV. "Harold," Tina whispered to her husband, poking him gently on the arm.

Harold began to stir and blinked his eyes a few times to adjust to the light.

"Honey, Jim's here. He's about to put Abby to bed but I wanted you to see her before she went to sleep," Tina continued to prod her husband.

"Well, why didn't anyone tell me?" Harold's booming voice resonated through the small space. "Let me see that little princess!" He climbed out of his chair and made his way to stand in front of Jim and Abby. "Well hello angel," he said, running his hand gently across her head. "Jim, good to see you," Harold extended his hand which Jim shook firmly.

"You too, sir. I thought it was about time you guys all met."

"Well, Jim," Tina began, "let me show you where you guys will be sleeping." Tina led the way up the stairs opening a door on the right side of the hallway. The room was obviously a small office that had been temporarily converted over to a nursery for Abby. A simple white crib sat in the corner of the room, adorned with a mobile of tiny pink butterflies and a bright pink crib set to match. The old rocking chair that Jim remembered seeing in the living room on previous visits had been moved up to the office as well. Tina had even taken the initiative to clean out one of the cabinets in the room to put Abby's things in while they were there. "Your room is right on the other side of the bathroom," Tina informed him, pointing to a door next to the crib. "The bathroom connects the rooms so you can sleep with the doors open and still be able to hear her."

"Great! I brought her monitor too so we can carry that around while we're downstairs. It's actually in her suitcase though. I guess I should go get that."

Jim situated his abnormally clingy daughter on his hip while he and Harold unloaded the suitcases from the back of his car and toted them upstairs to the bedrooms. Once Harold and Tina were back downstairs, Jim changed Abby and dressed her for bed before settling down with her in the rocking chair. Despite the unfamiliar setting, Abby drifted off in no time. Jim got her settled in the crib, dug the monitor out of her suitcase and clicked it on, toting the portable unit with him. Before heading downstairs, Jim made his way to the room he would be staying in and began digging through his suitcase for some more comfortable attire. Finally producing some flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt, he quickly changed and wandered to the kitchen downstairs. He found Harold and Tina seated at the breakfast nook, sipping on cups of hot tea. His thoughts briefly drifted to the tea-loving receptionist back in Scranton, reminding him that he needed to call her soon.

"So, Jim, how was the drive here?" Harold asked him.

"Longer than I had anticipated," Jim answered with a laugh. "Abby's not too fond of car rides so she wasn't too happy for most of the trip. I had hoped the new car seat would help but I'm beginning to think she's never going to get over that phase."

"Ah, just give her time," Tina chimed in. "All babies are like that. In fact, Karen was like that until she was over a year old."

At the mention of Karen, the kitchen went deadly silent, the only sound being the ticking of the old grandfather clock in the living room.

Tina breathed a deep sigh. "God, I miss her," she choked out, fighting back the tears that were threatening to slip out.

"Me too," Jim agreed, "more than you will ever know."

Harold looked up from the cup he had been staring at since the conversation began. "You know, when you brought Abby in there for me to see tonight, I swear it was like I was looking at Karen again. She looks so much like her! Except for that nose! That must have come from you, son."

The silent kitchen was soon interrupted by a polite, but sincere laughter from the three adults.

"Yeah, the poor kid got cursed with the Halpert nose. Lucky for all of us, she's beautiful enough to pull it off." Jim added.

"That she is," Tina agreed. "I can't believe how much she's changed in the past few months. I mean, I've seen the pictures you've sent us but it didn't seem real until she was right here in front of us. You know if you wanted to move back to Stamford, we'd be more than happy to help you out in any way we can."

"I know. And I really appreciate it. But things are actually going really well for me in Scranton. I just bought us a house and my sales numbers are better than they've been in a long time. I guess Scranton just agrees with me. I loved it here in Stamford but something about being back home is just comforting."

"We understand Jim," Harold responded, "but if you ever change your mind, we're only a phone call away. Just say the word and we'll have you all set up."

"Thanks. It really means a lot that you guys want me to stay around, even if it is only because of Abby." Jim offered them a wink.

"Oh Jim, you know we love you like you're our own son. That being said, I think you should take your daughter's lead and get some sleep. We have all weekend to talk." Tina crossed the room to stand in front of Jim. She hugged him one more time and brushed a quick kiss on his cheek. "We'll see you in the morning," she said, ushering her husband and Jim out of the kitchen.

Jim made his way back upstairs and dropped down onto the bed. He reached over to pluck his phone off of the nightstand and dialed the number that had become more familiar to him than his own. On the third ring he heard the phone pick up.

"Hey Halpert!" he heard Pam's cheery voice greeting him.

"Hey Beesly!" he answered back. "How are things in Scranton?"

"Relatively normal. Dwight actually convinced Michael that the reason Jan hasn't been calling him back was because she got abducted by aliens. He called me frantically on my cell phone right after you left to tell me the whole story."

Jim laughed heartily. "Oh, I can't believe I missed that! So how is Izzy doing?"

"Well, I just threw a mouse in his cage about an hour ago so hopefully that will last him for the next few days," Pam teased.

"Okay, first of all it is a terrarium, not a cage. And second of all, was it a dead mouse or a live mouse?" Jim continued with the game.

"Oh, excuse me Dwight. I'm sorry I'm not all into the lingo of people in the pet snake club. And for the record it was a live mouse. I figured it would be good exercise and help raise his low self-esteem issues."

They continued on with their banter of the imaginary pet snake for a few more minutes before settling into a comfortable silence.

"So how did Abby do with the drive?" Pam asked.

"Well, she was very…Abby," Jim responded, forcing a weak laugh. "I swear, I don't think the child will ever get used to riding in cars."

"Maybe she was just trying to sing along to that stuff you like to call music," Pam shot back.

"Okay, for the record, Abby loves The Shins! And also, what's turned you into such a spitfire tonight? First making fun of my snake and now my music. What's next? My hair?"

"Well, now that you mention it…."

"Shut it Beesly!"

The pair enjoyed a few more laughs before Jim heard a distinct yawn from the other end of the line. He glanced quickly at the clock. "Holy crap! It's almost 1am!" he exclaimed. "I'd better get off of here and let you get some sleep. You still have to deal with Michael and his alien abducted girlfriend tomorrow. Or should I say today?"

Pam groaned loudly. "Don't remind me. Maybe I'll conveniently wake up with the flu tomorrow."

"Or…" Jim began, "You could call the office and say you don't know where you are. Tell Michael that you just woke up in this room full of bright lights and you don't know how you got there. And there are all these weird people around you speaking a different language but it sounds like they're talking about Jan."

"Nice! I might have to use that!" Pam laughed into the phone. "But I think you're right. I think I am going to go to bed now."

"Okay. I'll call you sometime tomorrow. Night Beesly."

"Night Jim."

The pair simultaneously closed their phones and climbed under the covers for a good night's sleep.

* * *

Jim awoke the next morning to Abby's cries filtering in from the room next door. He instinctively rolled over to look at the clock which read 7:52. He groaned slightly and grudgingly rolled out of bed to make his way into Abby's room. "Morning sweetie," he said, scooping her up into his arms before rifling through her suitcase for something to dress her in. He finally decided on a pink long-sleeved onesie and a pair of denim overalls. He quickly brushed her little bit of dark brown hair and slipped a pair of socks on her feet. Once he was satisfied that she was sufficiently presentable, Jim placed her in the playpen that he had set up the night before with some of her favorite toys and her security blanket and wandered into the bathroom to take a quick shower. Once Jim was dressed, he swept Abby up out of the playpen and carried her down to the kitchen. With Abby still on his hip, he wandered seamlessly through the kitchen, mixing her cereal and opening a jar of fruit. When everything was ready, Jim pulled out the high chair that was tucked away in the corner of the kitchen and strapped Abby in to begin feeding her. When she was about halfway through her breakfast, Jim could hear footsteps padding softly down the hallway. Tina soon appeared in the kitchen doorway.

"Well, good morning you two," she said cheerily, making her way to the coffeepot to start a fresh batch. Abby smiled brightly at her grandmother and eagerly kicked her feet.

"I told you she'd be happy to see you after a good night's sleep," Jim stated. "She's definitely a morning person."

"Well, I'm happy to see you too," Tina said, bending down so she was eye level with Abby. "You're going to have fun with Nana today aren't you?"

Abby squealed happily and flailed her arms in excitement. With Tina now in the room, it was impossible for Jim to keep Abby's attention on her breakfast.

"Hey kid. You need to finish eating," he said, poking her playfully in the belly. Abby giggled yet again and turned her head away, obviously trying to get the best of her daddy.

"Want me to give it a try?" Tina asked him.

"Be my guest." Jim stood up and relinquished the spoon and food over to Tina. While she worked on getting Abby to finish her breakfast, Jim made himself a cup of coffee. A few moments later, Harold wandered into the kitchen.

"Good morning everyone," he greeted warmly. "How did everyone sleep last night?"

"Pretty good," Jim answered. "Abby slept through the night so that was good for me."

"Good. You guys have a long weekend ahead of you. You'll need all the rest you can get."

"So what's the agenda for this weekend?" Jim asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Well, Erin is on the way here from Long Island and she is going shopping today with me, Abby and Julie," Tina chimed in.

"Awesome." Jim leaned down to Abby's level. "You get to hang out with Aunt Erin today. What do you think about that?" he asked the little girl.

She continued to giggle, sticking her messy hands into her hair.

"Well, it looks like you're going to need a bath before Aunt Erin gets here!" Tina laughed as she continued to feed Abby.

"So I guess it's up to me and Jim to entertain Dave then?" Harold asked his wife teasingly.

"Exactly."

Once Abby was finished with breakfast, Tina scooped her up out of the high chair and carried her off to the bathroom to clean her up. As soon as she stepped out of the kitchen, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get that," Jim said, stepping out of the kitchen in the direction of the front door.

He opened the door to find his sister-in-law Erin on the other side. "Jim!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck. "Where is that beautiful niece of mine?" she asked, bounding through the door and into the front hallway.

"Good to see you too Erin," Jim teased. "Your mom is actually giving her a bath right now."

"Awesome! I can't wait to get my hands on that little angel!" she squealed, skipping off down the hallway toward the master bathroom.

Jim shook his head in amazement and was about to close the door when he saw a familiar car pulling in the driveway. "Dave! Julie!" he called out to the couple as they climbed out of the car.

"Hey man! Long time no see!" Dave greeted his old friend with a quick hug.

The three of them stood in the driveway catching up for a few minutes before Tina called them into the house.

Within a half hour, Abby was dried off and re-dressed and the women were getting ready to set out on their shopping excursion. Jim checked the diaper bag to make sure they had everything they would need, reminded Tina about Abby's nap schedule, and kissed his daughter goodbye as the three women toted her out to the car.

"So," Jim began, "what's the plan guys?"

"Well, if you guys are up for it, I was thinking we could play a couple games of hoops and then go get necessities for a kickass cookout tonight," Dave suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Harold, are you up for that?" Jim asked his father-in-law.

"Absolutely. Let's do it!"

A few minutes later, the guys were piling into Dave's car to head for the basketball courts at the park. Jim checked his watch, seeing that it was nearing 10:00. "Hey guys," he called out to Dave and Harold. "I've got to make a phone call real quick. Why don't you guys start warming up and I'll be right back?"

Jim pulled his phone from the cup holder in Dave's car and dialed the number for Dunder Mifflin Scranton.

"Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam," he heard from the other end of the line.

"Dunder Mifflin, this is Jim."

"Hey Jim! How are things in Stamford?"

"Pretty good. I'm actually out with Karen's dad and my friend Dave right now. We're going to shoot some hoops while the women teach my daughter the fine art of shopping."

"Ooh, sounds like fun! So I guess Abby is taking pretty well to everyone."

"Yeah. She was a little stand-offish last night but she was a lot better this morning."

"I'm not surprised. She always gets really clingy when she's sleepy."

Jim stared at the phone in shock. He was amazed that Pam noticed so much about his daughter and her habits. She really was becoming a regular part of their lives. He wondered for a moment if it was really good for Pam to be getting so close to Abby. As much as he loved the fact that Abby had such a wonderful person looking out for her, he worried about what might happen in the future. He was still so confused about where they stood.

"Yeah, she does," Jim agreed. "But listen, I need to get back before the guys wonder where I am. And I'm sure Michael has some project for you to help him track down Jan. So, I'll call you later tonight okay?"

"Alright. Have fun with the family!"

"I will. Bye Pam."

"Bye Jim."

* * *

After about two hours of basketball the guys had decided to call it quits and head back to the house to shower and change. Once everyone looked presentable again, Jim and Dave decided to head to the grocery store to pick up items for the cookout while Harold stayed behind to clean the grill. As they drove through Stamford, Jim's phone buzzed in his pocket. It was a text message from Pam.

_Michael is hiring a paranormal investigator to test everyone for extraterrestrial DNA. I think I'll pay the guy to have Dwight test positive. Be glad you're not here! – Pam_

Jim chuckled quietly and shook his head in disbelief before sliding the phone back into his pocket.

"Alright man, fess up. Who is she?" Dave asked.

"Who is who?" Jim answered nonchalantly.

"You know who I'm talking about."

"And what makes you think it's a woman?"

"Well, for starters, that stupid grin on your face. I haven't seen you look like that in a long time. And if it's not a woman then I'm going to start having serious worries about you."

"Okay, fine. Yes, it's a woman. Remember me telling you about my best friend Pam back in Scranton? The one who's husband was driving the truck that night?"

Dave nodded, encouraging Jim to continue.

"Well, she and I have gotten to know each other again and we've been spending time together. It's been really great."

"So, has she become something more than a best friend?"

Jim breathed a deep sigh. "I don't know man. I mean, she's great. She's wonderful with Abby. She's funny and sweet and…she's just amazing. But we're both still recovering from that night. How do I know I'm not just using her?"

"You mean like a rebound?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Look man, I've known you for a long time now. You don't seem to me like the kind of guy that would string a girl along. And it's not like she's just some random girl you met on the street. You guys were friends long before all of this stuff happened with Karen. It's only natural that you would turn to each other. Besides, if she's as awesome as you say she is, I couldn't blame you for falling for her."

"Yeah, well last time I fell for her, it didn't end so well."

"Last time?"

"Yeah. She's the reason I moved away from Scranton in the first place. We started off just being friends but the more time we spent together, the more I liked about her. Before I even realized it, I fell in love with her. Unfortunately, I met her a little too late because she was already engaged. When she started planning the wedding and talking about the honeymoon, I just couldn't take it. I saw the job opening at the Stamford office and asked corporate if I could transfer. A week later I was here."

"Wow. Have you told anyone else this?"

"Karen knew. She asked me one time why I always wanted my family to visit us here instead of going to Scranton. I had to tell her. I wasn't going to ruin my marriage by lying about it. At the time, I thought I'd never see Pam again. Now, it's like she's this constant presence that I can't get rid of. I don't want to get rid of her either."

"You've already fallen for her again haven't you?" Dave asked, a sly smile creeping onto his face.

"Yeah," Jim said, finally admitting it to himself. "Yeah, I think have."

"Well, do yourself a favor. Try not to bring it up around Karen's family. As much as they love you, I doubt they'll want to hear about the new girl in your life. At least not yet."

"Thanks man." Jim clapped his friend on the back in gratitude and stared out the passenger window, trying hard to piece together the scattered feelings in his heart.

* * *

That night, the family sat out on the patio, enjoying the grilled hamburgers and chicken breasts the guys had served up. Jim removed himself from the conversation for a while, just sitting back to study the group that sat around him.

Erin was entertaining Abby by playing peek-a-boo with her napkin. The twenty year old college student looked almost identical to her older sister. They both had the same long dark hair and dark complexion. Jim smiled as he remembered Karen and her sister, staying up late one summer night while Erin was visiting, talking and laughing until two in the morning.

Tina and Harold sat side by side in a pair of lawn chairs, laughing with joy at their granddaughter. The two of them had been married for over thirty years now, but you could still see the love and adoration in every look they exchanged. Jim had loved them instantly. His first Thanksgiving in Stamford, his parents had made plans to drive down to his brother Jon's house for the holiday, leaving Jim to decide to stay in Stamford. Karen had insisted that no one should spend the holiday alone and practically forced him to join her and her family for Thanksgiving. He had been amazed at how welcoming this family was to a complete stranger. He had even impressed Karen's grandmother so much that she had whispered to Karen to make sure she didn't let him get away. He remembered how upset Karen had been when her grandmother passed away the next March. He recalled sitting next to her at the funeral, his arm wrapped around her shoulders and holding her tightly as she cried. He was amazed at the emotions these simple memories could inflict.

Dave and Julie sat across from Jim at the picnic table, their hands intertwined as they talked, with Julie occasionally resting her head on her husband's shoulder. The two of them had married not long after Jim had met them. In fact, he had been Karen's date to their wedding. He remembered the stunning navy blue dress she had worn and how she had swept her long hair up into an elegant twist. If he closed his eyes and thought about it long enough, he could almost smell the scent of her perfume wafting toward him as they danced to a slow song. He smiled at the memory, remembering how he had decided to go shopping for the perfect ring the very next day. For the first time in a long time, Jim realized that the memories no longer hurt to remember them. He could finally think of Karen and smile. No longer did the feelings of loneliness consume him every time he remembered something they had done together.

He finally let his gaze drift back over to their daughter. She was every bit as vivacious as Karen as she smiled coyly and bounced excitedly over her aunt's game. Jim was warmed with the love that filled this small group of people. There was only one thing that could make this night complete. He opened his phone and snapped a quick picture of his smiling child before attaching it to a text message.

_Pam –_

_Since I'm sure you're missing this smiling face this weekend, I thought I'd send you a little reminder of what it looks like. We miss you! See you when we get home Sunday! – Jim_

As he flipped the phone closed, a broad smile crossed his face that he knew matched the one on his little girl. Sunday couldn't get here fast enough.

* * *

A/N: Don't worry. This isn't the last you'll see of the Filippelli's! I have more tricks up my sleeve! And you all know the equation. Reviews Faster churning out of next chapter. (Actually, it's just inspiration for me to write faster. LoL!)


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Wow! I asked for reviews and by the time I got home from work I had an inbox full of them! Thanks you guys! Just going to warn you all, updates might be few and far between this week. I'm going out of town on Thursday and won't be back until late Saturday or possibly Sunday so I'm not going to have much time to write. Don't fret though! I won't forget about you guys! Thanks again for all of the reviews! They were awesome!

prudence - Thanks so much! I like stepping outside the JAM bubble every once in a while and getting a taste of their private lives. I'm glad you enjoyed Dwight's extraterrestrial DNA bit. I can totally see Pam pulling one over on him like that  
waiting4love - I was one step ahead of you on that one! Hehe! I actually already had this chapter in my head but it was just a matter of getting it from my head to the word processor. Hope you like it!  
JinxCokeJam - Thanks! Is this update quick enough for you? Hehe  
henantz - Thanks so much! Here's the next chapter for you!  
ktface - Well, as promised, here is more of the interaction with the Filippelli's. Hope it lives up to what you wanted!  
Primary - Thanks! Here's an update for you! I really appreciate the review  
princessdeleon - I would love a Jim ringtone! LoL! Actually I already have one. It's of him saying "In fact I'm in love with Italian food" Love it!  
lulupanda - Thanks! I tried to make them a relatively normal family but I still wanted to throw in a few quirks to make them unique in order to keep with the feel of the show. I tried to show that more in this chapter.  
Shorty - Your wish is my command. Here's more of the Filippelli's and Abby!  
JimPamJAM - Glad my reputation precedes me. LoL! I threw a few of my tricks and twists in this chapter but I still have a few more left in me. Thanks for the review!  
dancer - Thanks! I've been looking for a way to bring back Dave and Julie and I figured this would be a great time to do it. Even though Pam is his best friend, every guy still needs another guy he can talk to about stuff.  
emma - Thanks so much! I hope you continue to enjoy it!

* * *

The next day flew by quickly for Jim. The Filippelli's had invited the whole family over for a spur of the moment family reunion. Apparently the Filippelli family never moved too far away from each other. Every aunt, uncle, cousin, brother and sister seemed to be at the house that day. By mid-afternoon Abby had been put down for a nap and the large family was gathered outside on the patio.

"So Jim," Tina's older brother Jake began, "how are things going for you down there in Scranton?"

"Really well actually," Jim answered, taking a sip from the grape soda can in his hand. "I just bought a house so I've spent a lot of time trying to get it fixed up and everything."

"Yeah, you should see Abby's nursery!" Erin chimed in. "It looks awesome!"

"When did you see it?" Tina asked her daughter.

"Oh, I asked Jim what it looked like and he took some pictures and sent them to me. It's some kind of mural thing. It looks really cool!"

"Wow. Jim, I didn't know you were an artist," Tina said, her eyebrows raised at him in question.

"Oh, I didn't do that! I can barely draw a stick person," Jim laughed and cleared his throat nervously. "Actually my friend Pam painted Abby's room. She's a really talented artist and she asked if she could do her room as a housewarming gift. And that is an offer you just don't turn down." He smiled as he remembered Pam in the middle of Abby's bedroom, covered in every kind of paint and admiring her work.

"Hmmm…" Tina muttered, raising her eyebrows again, this time in what looked like an annoyed amusement.

Jim turned his attention to Erin's cousin Caleb. He and Caleb had gotten to know each other one Christmas when he stayed with them during his break from college. "So Caleb, how is work going?" Jim asked him.

Caleb fell into a long-winded monologue about his job as a sports writer for the local paper. Jim tried hard to focus on Caleb but couldn't help but notice when Tina got up and went inside, followed closely by Harold. Jim stood up a few moments later and excused himself, mumbling something about checking on Abby.

As he slipped in the kitchen door, Jim could hear voices wafting down the hall from the direction of the living room.

"Well, what do you expect Tina?" Harold's voice was stern but not yelling. "The boy has got to move on sometime."

Jim shuddered, knowing instantly that they were talking about him.

"I'm aware of that Harold but it's only been seven months."

"Well maybe seven months is enough for him. Do you expect him to mourn her forever? Besides, you don't even know for sure if there's anything going on with him and that artist friend of his."

"Oh come on Harold! You may be getting older but you're not blind! Don't tell me you didn't see the look on his face when he was talking about her."

"Well, maybe he does have deeper feelings than friendship for her, but that's none of our business, is it?"

"I know, I know. I just can't help but feel like he's forgetting about her."

Jim could hear Tina's voice begin to break. He was sure Harold was reaching his arms out to comfort her.

"Honey, I wouldn't worry about him ever forgetting about Karen. All he's got to do is take one look at that beautiful little girl. She's the spitting image of her mother. She's got that same feisty personality too. He's going to have his hands full in a few years."

Tina laughed politely, still sniffling from the tears. "I guess you're right. It just almost feels like…a betrayal."

Jim tiptoed up the stairs and slipped into Abby's room. She was awake but not crying. She had apparently decided to occupy herself by trying to put her whole foot in her mouth. As soon as Jim peeked over the crib within her line of sight, Abby's face broke into a huge smile.

Jim smiled as he recalled Tina's words. "You definitely are your mother all over again," he whispered, lifting the child into his arms. He changed her diaper and toted her outside where the family was sitting around laughing and talking. As soon as Abby caught their attention, she was eagerly passed around the circle of people, each person wanting to talk to her and play with her. As he watched the family interact with Abby, Jim's thoughts drifted back to the conversation he had overheard in the house. It actually hurt to think that Tina felt betrayed by him. He had never intended for a simple conversation about Abby's nursery to stir up so much emotion. Jim excused himself from the group and slipped quietly into the house, moving to sit at the breakfast nook. After a few minutes, he was joined by Harold.

"Hey Jim, you're missing out on all the fun out there. I think they're about to start up an exciting game of Charades," Harold informed him with a sarcastic tone.

Jim laughed politely. "Thanks, I just needed a minute alone to think about some things."

"Well, if you want me to leave…"

"No! No! It's okay. You can stay. I wasn't really getting anywhere with my thoughts anyway."

"Do these thoughts have anything to do with a certain friend of yours back in Scranton?"

Jim looked up from the table, meeting Harold's questioning stare.

He nodded solemnly. "Yeah. It has a lot to do with her actually."

Harold nodded in understanding. "So Tina was right."

"About what?" Jim asked, pretending to be oblivious to their prior conversation.

"Oh, she just had this sneaking suspicion that something more than friendship was going on between you and that artist friend of yours. Looks like she wasn't just imagining things."

"Harold, I've got to be honest with you. I was coming in the house to check on Abby earlier and I heard the two of you talking. I heard Tina say she felt betrayed, like I was forgetting about Karen. Do you feel that way too?"

Harold gave Jim a reassuring smile. "Tina's just upset. You know, parents never expect to have to bury their children. It's supposed to be the other way around. She's just having a really hard time letting go. And because she hasn't been able to fully move on yet, she can't see how anyone else could have either. I've told you before Jim, you're like a son to me. If this girl back in Scranton can make you happy and get you over those last few hurdles on the road to healing, then I'm all for it. It's like I told Tina, you couldn't forget Karen if you wanted to, especially when you look at Abby. So, I'm not worried. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters."

Jim smiled across the table at his father-in-law. "Thanks Harold. It really means a lot that you have that much faith in me."

"Well, Tina has faith in you too. Just give her some time. She'll eventually come around. Maybe she and I can come visit you in a couple months and we can meet this Pam girl. If she's all that she seems to be, I'm sure we'll love her. Why don't you go give her a call? Take advantage of a houseful of free babysitters while you can."

"You know, I think I will." Jim smiled, rising up from his seat. "Thanks again Harold. I really appreciate you being so understanding."

Harold hugged his son-in-law and clapped him gently on the back. "Not a problem Jim. I'm really proud of you. Now go call that girl!"

Jim offered him one last smile before climbing the stairs and heading for his bedroom. He dialed the familiar number and broke into a huge smile when he heard her voice on the other side.

"Hey! How's life in Scranton?" he asked.

"Pretty good. I actually just got to your house."

"Oh really? You haven't killed Izzy yet have you?"

"No. But speaking of Izzy, I have a surprise for you when you get home."

"What kind of surprise?" Jim asked nervously.

Pam giggled at the tone of his voice. "I'm not telling you! You'll just have to wait until you get home."

"Fine, fine."

"So how are things going there?"

"Really good. They invited practically the whole family over today so they're all out on the patio hanging out."

"Oh, well if you need to go…"

"No, no. It's fine. They have Abby down there with them so I highly doubt they'll even notice I'm gone."

"Yeah, she does tend to draw the attention of a crowd doesn't she?"

"Absolutely."

The pair sat in silence for a few moments, neither knowing how to say what they really wanted to.

"So," Pam began, "you said you guys will be back tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yeah, I'm going to try to leave around noon since that's close to Abby's naptime. I'm hoping she'll fall asleep in the car so by the time we get home it will be about time for her to wake up."

"Awesome. I can't wait! You have no idea how much I've missed that girl this weekend. I feel lost not helping you make bottles or change diapers."

"Well, Beesly, anytime you want to sign up for those duties, feel free. I definitely will not complain."

"I'm sure you wouldn't."

"Hey listen," Jim started, "when I get back, do you think maybe we could…talk? Like, seriously talk. I just have a lot of things that I need to say and I want to hear what you have to say too."

He could hear the hesitation in Pam's voice and pictured her nervously twirling the charm that was dangling from her necklace. "Sure," she finally answered. "I'd like that."

"Great. Well, I probably should get back downstairs now. I just wanted to call and check in."

"Okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."

"Absolutely. Bye Beesly."

Jim clapped his phone shut and tried, without much success, to wipe the cheesy grin from his face. He couldn't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

That night, Jim lay in bed trying desperately to get some sleep. However, sleep seemed to be doing its best to evade him. Finally, around 2am he decided to go downstairs and raid the kitchen for something that might make him at least a little drowsy. As he rounded the corner of the kitchen, he was surprised to find Tina sitting at the table, a warm cup of tea in her hand.

"Jim," she said with surprise. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," he answered, stretching his long limbs. "I guess I'm just worried about leaving tomorrow. You know, making sure we don't forget anything. Praying Abby sleeps through the drive. That sort of thing."

Tina rose up from her seat and poured Jim a cup of tea. "I know you're not a big tea drinker but it'll help you to relax a little," she said, pushing the cup into his hand.

Jim sat across from Tina at the table, carefully sipping the hot liquid. "So Harold told me you guys talked earlier," she stated matter-of-factly.

Jim looked up guiltily, unsure of what he should say.

Tina took this as a cue to continue. "I'm sorry I overreacted earlier. I know I shouldn't be angry at you but I guess it just kind of felt like you were leaving all the memories of Karen behind to start this new life with that friend of yours."

Jim nodded in understanding. "Believe me Tina, I will never forget about Karen. I loved her. I still love her. But I can't live with a broken heart forever. I have to let it heal for my sake and Abby's. I don't want her growing up with a father who's living so much in the past that he can't enjoy the present. And Pam is part of that healing process, whether we want her to be or not. Believe me; I tried to talk myself out of caring about her. But she's been my best friend for years. That's not something I can just shut off like a faucet. She has helped me through so much in the past few months. I just hope that eventually you'll understand why I rely on her so much."

Tina bit her lip nervously, a habit he had seen in Karen on more than one occasion. "I do understand Jim. I always knew that you'd move on eventually and find someone else. You're too good of a guy for a woman not to notice it eventually. I guess I just figured it wouldn't be this soon. But if you really and truly think this woman is the best thing for you and Abby right now, then I'm not going to hold it against you. You're a smart guy. I know you would never do anything that might end up hurting you or Abby in the future. If this is really what you want, then you have my blessing."

Jim smiled at the woman that sat across from him. "Believe me. If I had any reason to believe that something I did might end up hurting my daughter, I wouldn't do it. I love her way too much to jeopardize her happiness."

"I know Jim. Just make sure you take care of yourself too."

Jim walked around the table and put his arms lovingly around Tina's neck. "Did I ever tell you you're my favorite mother-in-law?" he asked, brushing a quick peck on her cheek.

"I'd better be since I'm your only mother-in-law," she teased him. "Now get to bed. You've got a long day ahead of you tomorrow."

* * *

Jim awoke the next morning and glanced at the clock which read 9:23. He squinted, reading the numbers again. Abby never slept this late. How had she not woken him up already? Jim hurriedly ran to her room and found her crib empty. _I guess Tina or Harold came and got her this morning so I could sleep in,_ he thought to himself. After showering and getting dressed, Jim packed up his suitcase and Abby's and folded up the playpen before making his way downstairs. He found everyone in the kitchen munching on some of Tina's homemade cinnamon rolls while Abby took her bottle.

"Morning Jim," Tina greeted him. "I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of getting Abby up and dressed this morning. I figured you could use your sleep."

"Oh, thank you. I actually worried a little bit when I woke up and realized what time it was. Abby's never been one to sleep past 8:00." Jim walked over to his little girl and placed a kiss on top of her head. "Morning sweetie."

Abby held out the spoon she was grasping in her right hand. "That's okay," Jim said to his daughter, "I think I'll use a fork. But thank you."

Harold and Tina laughed at their exchange as Jim took a seat at the table with his cinnamon roll and coffee.

"So what time are you looking to head out?" Harold asked.

"I was thinking sometime around noon. That'll be right around her naptime so maybe she'll nod off during the drive."

"Good plan," Tina commented, "although I don't know what you're talking about when you say she's awful on car rides. She was just fine when we went shopping on Friday."

"Well, she must have been trying to impress someone because I've had very few content trips with her in the car," Jim said, winking at Abby who offered him a wide smile in return.

"Well, I think she's just trying to get the best of you. Aren't you Princess?" Harold asked, tickling the little girl on her sides. Abby giggled at her grandfather and stretched out her arms for him. Harold lifted her from her high chair and allowed her to sit on his knee while he finished his breakfast.

Jim reached into the suitcase he had brought downstairs and withdrew his camera, snapping a quick picture of Abby on her grandfather's lap. They took a few more pictures before Tina suggested a picture of all four of them. Jim set the timer on the camera and rested it on the kitchen counter before running to stand with the Filippelli's and his daughter. "Perfect," he said, as he checked the LCD screen on the camera.

* * *

A few hours later, Harold was helping Jim to load the last of the bags into the trunk of the car while Tina entertained Abby. As Jim closed the trunk of the car, he could see the tears beginning to form in Tina's eyes.

"Bye Angel. Nana's going to miss you," Tina whispered, pulling the child close and kissing her on the temple before handing her off to Harold.

"Hey Little Princess," he said with a proud smile. "Don't you forget about old Pop-pop, you hear? And take care of that daddy of yours okay?" Harold placed a noisy kiss on her cheek before handing her to her father. Jim settled her in her car seat and made sure her pacifier and security blanket were close by before closing the door. "Bye you guys," he said, puling each of them in for a hug. "Don't hesitate to come visit us in Scranton. We have a guest bedroom that's just dying to be used. And bring Erin too. We'll make it a family affair."

Tina smiled at him before hugging him again. "Bye Jim. Take good care of that little angel. And don't forget to call us when you get home."

"Will do," he answered. "Bye guys." Jim climbed behind the steering wheel and gave them one final wave as he pulled the car out of the driveway, heading in the direction of the road that would lead him home.

* * *

A/N: So what did you guys think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Reviews are my fuel since gas prices are so high. LoL!


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: I'm baaaaaack! The wedding in Georgia was beautiful and it was nice getting away for the weekend. I would have had this chapter up yesterday but it was another one of those that just couldn't find its way from my head to my laptop. I changed the rating for content in this chapter. Nothing too severe but I didn't want to get flagged for an inappropriate rating or anything. Reviews are love as always!

JinxCokeJAM - Well, I definitely didn't meet your update quota with this one! LoL! Vacation will do that to you I guess. I hope it was worth the wait!  
henantz - Thanks so much! Here you go! Hope you like it!  
dancer - Thanks for the compliment! I couldn't see Karen's parents being a hundred percent okay with Jim being with someone new so I'm glad you liked it  
waiting4love - Hope you enjoy this. It's not what I would call conventional but it's very JAM-like  
ktface - Sorry to disappoint but I couldn't get this chapter cranked out before I left. It's here now though! I could picture Karen being more like her dad being a little more laid back and her mom being the more uptight one. I'm glad you liked my portrayal of them  
Abyssion - Well, I can't make everything picture perfect for them. It wouldn't be Jim and Pam without a little conflict. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it  
lulupanda - Yes, it all gets laid on the table in this one. Read on for details!  
JimPamJAM - The angst might be back but for now they're leaning more toward the fluff side. There was so much angst in the beginning that I kind of wanted to stray away from that for a while. Hope you continue to enjoy it!  
princessdeleon - I'm sure you're not still saying that after waiting so long for this chapter! LoL! Sorry I couldn't crank it out faster but it was one of the difficult ones.  
Little Sparrow - I like the way you think! You'll see the surprise in this chapter!  
Shorty - Wait no longer! Here is their talk!  
Mrs. Fitzgerald - Glad you're sticking with me through all of this! Hope you continue to enjoy it!  
tophet - You gotta love weekends! LoL! I try to keep up with all the fanfics during the week but sometimes it's just not possible  
DeanParadise - The whole thing in one day? That's dedication! Thanks for reading! Hope you continue to like it!  
Aivilo - Yes, Daddy Jim is wonderful. Doesn't it make you wish he was real? LoL!  
cl06 - Thanks so much for the review! Here's the next chapter for you!

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The trip home took much less time than the drive to Stamford but to Jim it seemed like it lasted hours longer. As much as he would miss the family in Stamford, he was anxious to get home. When he finally pulled his car into the driveway, he smiled to see a familiar blue Yaris parked opposite of his usual space. No sooner had Jim climbed out of the car than his front door flew open, revealing a thoroughly excited Pam Beesly.

"You're home!" Pam exclaimed as she bounded down the front porch steps and ran to Jim, throwing her arms tightly around his neck. Jim smiled as he returned the embrace with his own tight squeeze. As soon as she released him, Pam ran around to the passenger's side of the car and flung open the back seat door. After fiddling with the new car seat straps, Pam released Abby from her car seat and scooped her up into her arms. "Hey baby girl!" Pam kissed Abby on the cheek and pulled her tightly to her chest. "I've missed you this weekend!"

Jim smiled as he watched Pam and Abby together. There was no denying that Pam had fallen in love with the little girl. And it was apparent that Abby loved her right back as she beamed one of her bright smiles right at Pam. The duo continued to play together with Pam holding Abby high above her head and bringing her down to blow raspberries on her belly, causing the child to burst into several fits of giggles. Jim went around to the trunk and began removing suitcases and duffel bags to tote in the house.

"Oh!" Pam suddenly exclaimed, "I still have to show you your surprise!" She ran back over to Jim and took him by the hand, leading him toward the still open front door. Once they were inside, she continued to lead the way until they reached the door of the upstairs living room. "Okay, now you have to close your eyes," she instructed.

Jim rolled his eyes but did as he was told. He heard Pam shuffle into the room and a slight rattling noise. He sensed her movements as she returned to stand in front of him and once again took his hand to lead him into the room. She stopped him right about where he estimated the table that sat behind the couch would be. "Okay, now open them!" she squealed with delight. Jim opened his eyes to see a bright orange and green cage sitting atop the table. Inside was a tiny brown and white hamster.

"Jim," Pam began, "I'd like you to meet your new friend, Izzy."

Jim turned his gaze toward Pam and raised his eyebrows in disbelief. He fought back his laughter as he played along with the game. "But Pam, Izzy was a snake. What happened to the snake?"

Pam looked down at the floor in mock shame. "Well Jim, I hate to tell you this but…your snake…well, I guess he just couldn't live with himself anymore. I came to feed him yesterday only to find that he tried to escape his terrarium but sadly got stuck between the door and the top of the cage. I even asked Dwight to try and resuscitate him but unfortunately it was too late. I figured the hamster would be a good replacement. I had him tested and he doesn't seem to suffer from any of the symptoms of depression that plagued the late Izzy."

Jim finally couldn't hold it back any longer and burst into a fit of laughter, Pam following right behind him. Even Abby joined in on the laughs for a moment. Once they had finally calmed down, Jim kneeled down to peer into the cage. "Well, Mr. Izzy, welcome home," he said before turning to Pam. "Although I must say, I will miss Izzy the snake very much, I'm glad he's in a better place where the other snakes can no longer make fun of him."

Pam and Jim erupted into another series of laughs. When they finally subsided, Pam wiped her eyes from the tears that had formed from all the laughing. With Abby still on her hip, she leaned down to study the animal in the cage. "Look Abby!" she said, pointing to the hamster, which was currently balled up inside one of his play tubes. "That's your new pet, Izzy. Can you say Izzy?" Abby offered a series of coos and squeals in response. Pam smiled at the little girl before kissing her on top of the head. "Oh I missed you!" she exclaimed, laying her cheek lovingly on top of Abby's head.

"Oh!" Jim suddenly piped up and turned his attention to Abby. "Let's show Pam what Aunt Erin taught you!"

Pam raised her eyebrows excitedly before handing Abby off to Jim, who in turn, sat her on the floor and gestured for Pam to sit beside him, directly across from Abby. Pam watched expectantly and smiled when she heard Jim start a familiar tune.

"If you're happy and you know it clap your hands…"

Pam beamed proudly as she watched Abby clap her tiny hands together over and over again.

"If you're happy and you know it clap your hands…"

Again, Abby repeated the gesture with Pam clapping right along with her.

"If you're happy and you know it then your face will surely show it. If you're happy and you know it clap your hands."

For the final round, all three of them clapped together.

"Yay!" Pam cheered Abby on. "You did a great job sweetie! You'll be doing the Hokey Pokey before long! How about a high five?" Pam held up her hand and gently pulled Abby's arm up to connect with it.

The three of them sat in the floor a few minutes longer. Abby continuously threw a soft Taggies ball at them as they rolled it back to her. It wasn't long before Jim heard Pam's stomach growling.

"Starving yourself while we were gone, Beesly?" he teased her.

"Well, let's just say a hamster cage takes longer to assemble than I thought it would. I kind of worked straight through lunch on that stupid thing."

Jim laughed, picturing Pam sitting in the middle of his living room staring at the hundreds of tiny plastic pieces that had to fit together to form the series of tubes.

"Well, you know, if you'd just gotten the snake you wouldn't have had to worry about all of that. Terrariums are pretty simple."

"Jim, you seriously didn't expect me to get you a snake did you? I got queasy just looking at them in the pet store."

The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments while Abby continued to occupy herself with the ball. "I really missed you. You know that?" Jim finally admitted as he slid his hand over Pam's.

Pam smiled up at him, tilting her head to the side as she studied the sincerity that shone in his eyes. "I missed you too." Pam instinctively scooted closer to Jim and sighed in contentment as he wrapped his arm around her waist, placing a gentle kiss on her temple. She rested her head on his shoulder and watched Abby continue to play with the myriad of toys that were scattered around her. When the child finally tired of playing, Jim reluctantly moved from his position next to Pam and scooped Abby up and carried her downstairs to the kitchen with Pam following right behind them. They fell into their normal weekend routine with Jim settling Abby in the high chair and fastening on her bib while Pam prepped the food and a bottle.

"You know," Pam began, "we make a pretty good team don't we?"

"Absolutely we do," Jim answered, settling into a chair in front of Abby. While Jim worked on getting Abby to eat her dinner, Pam busied herself around the kitchen. "What are you doing?" he finally asked her as she began pulling items from the fridge.

"I'm making us dinner," she said, rolling her eyes as if the answer should be obvious.

"Pam, you don't have to do that. We can just order a pizza or something."

Pam rolled her eyes once again before crossing the kitchen to stand beside Jim and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know Jim, you're a great guy but sometimes a girl gets a little tired of pizza," she winked at him before returning to the counter to work on preparing dinner.

"Well, if you were so tired of pizza why didn't you just say so?" he said with mock indignation. "I thought we were just keeping with tradition."

Pam giggled at the feigned look of disgust on his face. A few minutes later, Jim finished feeding Abby and toted her off to the bathroom for her nightly bath. Pam hummed to herself as she continued to bustle around the kitchen, throwing ingredients together for their dinner. She smiled when she heard footsteps in the hallway again. Jim emerged around the corner with Abby wrapped up in a hooded towel. However it looked like Jim had gotten more water on him than Abby. Pam laughed as she crossed the kitchen to take the little girl from Jim's arms. "Looks like she got the best of you this time, dad," she teased him, nodding toward the huge wet spot that covered his chest.

"That would be an understatement," Jim answered. "I think she was gunning for me this time. Would you mind getting her dressed while I find something dry to put on?"

"Not at all," Pam smiled. "I haven't put dinner on yet but it's ready when we are."

"Thanks." Jim started off down the hallway and Pam blushed as she watched him pull the wet shirt over his head and toss it into the laundry closet.

"Come on baby girl. Let's get you dressed," she said to Abby. She shifted the baby to her other hip and made her way up the stairs to the nursery. With the precision of pro, she quickly put lotion on the little girl, diapered her, and dressed her in a pair of little pink pajamas. Pam rifled through the basket on the bottom shelf of the changing table until she found a little white brush and began brushing down the tufts of dark brown hair that stuck out all over Abby's head. Abby sat contentedly playing with a tube of Desitin while Pam brushed her hair. "Perfect," she said, once all the stray hairs were lying in place. "Now, let's go see what your daddy is up to." Pam picked Abby up off the changing table and turned toward the door, only to find Jim leaning against the doorframe, smiling happily at them.

"Well there he is!" Pam said to the little girl. "How long have you been standing there?" she asked him.

"A while," he admitted. "I was just admiring how perfect you two were together."

Pam blushed under his thoughtful gaze. "Well, she makes it easy."

"Yeah, I'm going to have to watch out once she's able to talk. You two are going to be conspiring against me all the time," Jim said, as he crossed the room to stand beside them.

"Consider it Dwight's payback for all the tricks you pulled on him," Pam teased him.

"Yes, but let's not forget, I had a co-conspirator for almost all of those tricks," he taunted back before turning his attention to Abby. "And I think it's about time for someone to go night-night."

Abby responded by turning her head away from Jim and hiding her face in Pam's shoulder. "I don't think that's going to work, baby girl," Pam whispered to her.

Pam passed Abby over to him, which prompted her to immediately start crying uncontrollably. Jim tried all of his usual tricks to get her to sleep but nothing seemed to work. "Oh! Wait a minute!" Pam piped up, running out of the room. Jim could hear her running down the stairs and rummaging through the luggage he had brought in. She finally emerged a few minutes later with Abby's security blanket in her hands. As soon as Abby saw it, she nearly jumped into Pam's arms and clung to the blanket, resting her head on Pam's shoulder. Pam smiled guiltily up at Jim, knowing he probably felt a little upset that Abby seemed to prefer her at the moment, but the look on his face was anything but upset. He was actually smiling back at her. Pam took a seat in the glider in the corner of Abby's room and slowly rocked the little girl until she was nearly asleep. She carefully stood up and placed Abby down in her crib, turning on the mobile before placing a kiss on her fingertips and resting them gently on Abby's forehead. She and Jim quietly made their way out of the room, turning the light off behind them. They stood in the hallway listening for a few minutes, just to make sure she had drifted off before making their way downstairs.

"Nice job," Jim finally remarked, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Thanks," Pam answered with a blush. "I was afraid she'd forget about me over the weekend."

"Not possible."

They let their gazes linger on each other for a brief moment before Pam piped up. "Are you ready to eat?"

Jim shrugged, "I'm game if you are. What are we eating anyway?"

"Well, you of all people should know that I'm not exactly a culinary genius but I'll throw out a disclaimer saying that breakfast is good at any time of the day."

Jim laughed, "You're making pancakes aren't you?"

Pam hung her head in embarrassment. "I told you my culinary skills were limited!"

Jim stood up and crossed the kitchen to draw Pam into his arms. "Well, just so you know, I love pancakes at any time of the day. And I'm sure they'll be the best pancakes I've ever had."

"Doubtful but thanks for the vote of confidence."

Pam reluctantly pulled herself from Jim's embrace and crossed the kitchen to finish preparing their dinner. A few minutes later, she had two plates pilled high with pancakes sitting on the dining room table. Jim grabbed the butter from the refrigerator and a bottle of syrup from one of the cabinets. The two of them sat at the table and began chowing down on the piles of pancakes.

"Wow, Pam these are really good," Jim said through a mouthful of syrupy pancakes.

"Thanks. I was going to make them with cinnamon but apparently men don't think cinnamon is a necessary ingredient to keep in the kitchen," she raised her eyebrows accusingly at Jim.

"Well, what can I say? My idea of cooking is everything with the word "instant" on it."

Pam giggled. "No wonder you stay so skinny. You never eat real food."

"Hey, in my defense, instant potatoes are just as good as regular ones."

The pair finished their dinner in a comfortable silence. Once they were done Jim collected the plates and forks to rinse off before putting them in the dishwasher. He turned around, to find Pam no longer in the kitchen or the dining room. He wandered through the downstairs area searching for her, stopping at the base of the stairs when he heard footsteps above his head. Jim made his way up the stairs and finally found her in the living room, putting food in Izzy's bowl.

"So now you're not only trying to make me fat, but my hamster too?" Jim teased.

"Well, he's a growing boy. He needs his food to keep his energy up." Pam tapped on the side of the cage to awaken the tiny pet, smiling as he scurried down the tube toward the food. She looked up to see Jim leaning over her, peering into the cage with her. She shivered at the feeling of him being so close.

"You okay?" Jim asked, slipping an arm around her shoulders and gently rubbing her arm.

Pam stepped away cautiously. "Yeah. I just got a bit of a chill I guess."

"Well, why don't we go out on the terrace? The air conditioning in this place would preserve a dead person for at least a week."

"That is disturbing."

Pam and Jim stepped out into the warm summer air. They each took a seat on the dark green chaise lounge chairs Jim had put outside. "I'm going to get something to drink. You want anything?" Jim asked.

"Um, sure. Whatever you're having," Pam answered.

Once Jim had disappeared into the house, Pam reached under the cushion on the lounge and pulled out a sketchpad. When she had come over to get the mail on Friday, she had found herself wandering aimlessly up the stairs and out onto the terrace. The newly bloomed trees in the backyard provided beautiful scenery, especially at sunset. Pam had sat on the terrace for hours just sketching everything she saw. Once again, she reached under the cushions and withdrew a case of drawing pencils. She worked diligently on her sketch, not noticing when Jim came back through the screen door. She jumped when the door clanged against the frame.

"Hey! What's that?" Jim asked as he handed Pam a can of grape soda and nodded toward the sketchbook in her lap.

"Oh, I've just been working on this sketch the past couple days. I thought I'd try to finish it up while we were out here."

"Awesome. Do you mind if I…" Jim started, holding out his hand for the sketchpad.

"Oh! Um, sure." Pam passed the sketch over to him and watched his face in amusement. He studied it carefully, angling the paper in several different directions to get the full effect.

"This is really good Pam. You should sign it down in the corner though to make it official."

Pam smiled up at him in return. "It's just a sketch Jim. It's not like it's a masterpiece for sale."

"Really? Well, what if I wanted to buy it? I mean, it is my backyard. And I think this would look perfect in the dining room."

"Seriously? It's not even done yet. And if you wanted it, all you had to do was ask. I'm not going to make you pay for it."

"Well, as soon as it's done let me know. I'll gladly take it off your hands."

"Thanks." Pam beamed a bright smile at Jim. He really was amazing. Roy had never taken an interest in her art, telling her it was stupid and a waste of time. Before he had left for Stamford, Jim was constantly encouraging Pam to pursue her art. He had even been the inspiration behind several of her sketches on the long days at Dunder Mifflin when FreeCell hadn't been enough to keep her occupied. She remembered one night when she had accidentally left her sketchpad on the coffee table.

_Roy had come home after hanging out with the boys at Poor Richards and tripped over the coffee table in his drunken state. The sketchbook had flown open to a page with a sketch of Jim, pencil in hand and phone resting between his ear and shoulder. In the picture he was flashing one of his trademark amused looks with eyebrows raised and his mouth in a playful smirk. Roy had picked up the sketchpad and stormed into the kitchen where Pam was busy unloading the dishwasher. He had angrily flung the sketchpad at her, the corner of the book hitting her square in the eye. _

"_Roy! What the hell?" she reacted angrily. "You just hit me in the eye!"_

"_Good!" he screamed back. "Maybe if you can't see anything you won't be so busy drawing pictures of Halpert!"_

_Pam's eyes widened in shock. He had seen one of the sketches she had done of Jim. She regained her composure before speaking again. "Come on Roy, it's nothing like that. It gets boring sometimes and Jim's within my line of sight. I've done sketches of Dwight before too. It's not a big deal."_

"_Not a big deal huh?" Roy grabbed Pam's arm forcefully and yanked her toward him. He pulled her so her face was within mere inches of his, the stench of alcohol heavy on his breath. "Look me in the eye and tell me there's nothing going on with you two!" he demanded._

Hot tears sprang to Pam's eyes as she remembered the events from that night.

_She had rarely seen Roy so angry. Even though she had told him again and again that there was nothing more between she and Jim than friendship, he repeatedly called her a liar, a slut, and anything else he could think of. She remembered the force of him shoving her into the kitchen wall being so severe she had banged the back of her head against it. She remembered how dirty she felt when he began to slide his hands up her thigh, reaching up until he had pulled her underwear down to her knees. She remembered telling him to stop, pushing and beating at his chest to try and escape. She remembered how he had growled into her ear that she was his and only his as he pushed into her. She remembered the tears pouring down her cheeks as she continued to beg him to stop. She remembered running to the bathroom and turning the shower on until it was scalding hot. She had stood under it for as long as she could stand, trying desperately to wash away the unclean feeling from deep within herself. She had sat in the bathroom for hours, her knees pulled to her chest as she sobbed into them. When she had finally left the bathroom, she found Roy passed out on the living room couch, a half-empty bottle of beer perched on the coffee table. Pam had gone back to the kitchen and picked her sketchbook up from where it had landed on the floor. She flipped it open to the picture that had started the whole fight, letting her tears fall until they stained the page. She clutched the book to her chest and made her way into the bedroom. Within a few minutes she had changed into a pair of her favorite pajamas and climbed in on her side of the bed. She picked up her sketchbook once more, lightly tracing her fingers over the contour of the face that stared back at her from the page. She finally closed the book and tucked it away inside one of her pillowcases, drawing the pillow to her chest as she continued to sob until she fell asleep._

She was stirred from her dark memories by a gentle voice calling her name and a hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as her eyes focused on Jim, sitting next to her on the lounge, trying to draw her back to the present. Her efforts to hide the pain in her eyes were in vain, as Jim gently tipped her chin up to meet his eyes.

"Pam?" he asked with a voice so tender that Pam nearly burst into tears. "What's wrong?"

Pam shook her head, trying to rid the horrible images from her mind. "Just bad memories," she finally admitted.

"Like what?" Jim prodded her on.

"I'm sure it's nothing you want to hear about."

Jim ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Pam, when are you going to realize…" he started, pausing to collect himself before he continued. "What I mean is if there's something upsetting you, I want to know about it. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong. I thought we had gotten past all of this." He reached over to take her hand, gently rubbing circles over it with his thumb. "Pam, I told you on the phone that I wanted to talk to you when I got home. You remember that right?"

Pam nodded her head silently, focusing on their intertwined hands.

"Well, one of the things I wanted to talk to you about is honesty. I want us to be completely honest with each other, no matter what. I guess if I expect you to be honest with me, I'm going to have to start the ball rolling by being honest with you."

Jim took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before he continued. "Pam, while I was in Stamford this weekend, there wasn't a moment that went by that I didn't think about you and how much I wanted to be back home with you. Even Karen's parents could see it. When I moved back to Scranton, I was like a shell of the person I used to be. I was the same on the outside but inside I felt empty, like everything I thought made me who I was suddenly vanished. But when you and I became friends again, that all changed. I started to find out who I was all over again. I realized that for the first time in a long while, I was happy with my life. Not that I was happy about the circumstances that surrounded it, but I finally knew who I was and I liked it. After Karen died, I thought I'd never feel complete again. It was like a piece of me had been ripped away and I would never get it back. This weekend though, I realized that the part of my heart that had been missing all that time didn't hurt anymore. I found myself smiling a lot more than I had in a long time. And all of that was because of you Pam. You made all of that hurt go away and taught me how to be happy again. I owe a lot to you and I never, ever want to lose you again. I can only hope that in time, you'll come to feel the same way about me."

Pam wiped her eyes fiercely, trying to brush away the fresh tears that were pouring from her eyes. "Thank you, Jim. Thank you for being honest with me. I guess now it's my turn."

She fought back another round of sniffles and tried to regain some steadiness to her voice. Pam cleared her throat before she began to speak. "Well, I guess I should start at the beginning," she mumbled. "Before you left Scranton, Roy and I started having some pretty serious problems. He was constantly going out drinking after work and coming home wasted. Sometimes he would get really drunk and…" Pam trailed off as her voice began to crack.

Jim continued rubbing his thumbs over her hands, urging her on with his eyes.

"He would say things and do things that he didn't really mean. One night I accidentally left my sketchbook out and he looked through it. He saw some sketches that upset him and he got a little rough." Pam's tears continued to roll steadily down her cheeks.

"Pam, did he hurt you?" Jim asked. Pam could hear the tension in his voice and it scared her a little.

She nodded solemnly, her gaze falling to stare at the ground as she continued her story. "He said that I belonged to him and only him and he was going to make sure I knew it. He forced me against the wall and…"

Jim could stand the tears no longer and pulled her close to him, rubbing her back slowly as she continued to sob. "Oh Pam," he whispered against her hair. "Why on earth would anyone ever want to hurt you?"

Pam sniffled. As much as she hated recalling the memories, she knew it was the only way she would be able to finally let go of all the pain it had caused her. "He raped me, Jim. I tried to stop him. I screamed at him, I hit him. Nothing worked. He said he was going to prove once and for all that I belonged to him. I was all set to leave him after that. I packed my bags and went to my parent's house. I didn't tell them what happened. I just said that Roy and I had a fight and I needed some time. He found out where I was and showed up at the house. My parents could see how terrified I was and tried to send him away. He refused to leave until I talked to him so I agreed. He apologized for what he had done and swore it would never happen again. He even promised to quit drinking. I stupidly believed him and went back home. He did quit drinking for a while. I think it lasted for about two weeks. He never forced me to do anything again, that part of the promise he did actually keep. But he still got really mean when he was drunk. He said so many hurtful things. I'm not sure what was worse, the rape or his awful words. A couple of times when I would yell back at him, he would twist my arm really hard or slap me across the face. I finally figured out if I just sat there and let him yell he would eventually pass out and leave me alone."

"And all of this was going on before I left Scranton?" Jim asked. "Why did you still marry him?"

Pam shrugged. "I was stupid I guess. I thought that once we were married, he might change. I thought he would realize that I was his wife and not just his girlfriend anymore and I deserved better. I was terribly wrong."

"I still can't believe you had to deal with that for over three years. I wish I would have known. I would have never left you here with that creep," Jim continued to try and soothe her.

"There's nothing you could have done, Jim. I probably wouldn't have listened anyway," Pam leaned her head on his shoulder, breathing in the scent of him, relishing in the comfort she drew from it.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Pam spoke up again. "Jim, I have to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Why did you leave Scranton? And I want the truth, not some B.S. about getting a job promotion or anything."

Jim took a deep breath. "Are you sure you want to know?" he asked.

Pam nodded solemnly. "Yes."

Jim's mouth turned up into a half smirk. "Okay," he began. "I'll give you the honest truth. I'm not sure if you're going to like it though."

Pam looked deep into his eyes, seeing the emotion that lingered behind them. "I just want the truth Jim. That's all I ask."

"Alright. Well, the truth is, I fell in love with my best friend but she was engaged to someone else. And as the wedding date got closer, I realized that I couldn't stand by and watch the girl I loved marry someone else. So, I left. I called Jan and asked her if there were any positions available in a different branch and that's when she directed me to Stamford. I told her to arrange the transfer and two weeks later I was there."

"Oh Jim," Pam whispered through a haze of tears. "Why didn't you ever say anything?" she asked, placing her hands on either side of his face.

Jim merely shrugged in response. "I guess I thought it would be pointless. You had made your decision long before I even knew you. Why risk our friendship over something that wouldn't happen anyway?"

Pam hung her head in shame. "You really thought we wouldn't be friends if you told me how you felt?"

"I don't know Pam. I guess I was just scared. I figured if I couldn't have you as my own, I'd settle for being your friend if it meant you would still be in my life."

"And now?" she asked, grabbing his hands within hers again.

Jim smiled back at her as he gently squeezed her hands. "Now, I'm happy to have you as my best friend again. But I'm not sure how happy I'd be if that's all we ever amounted to."

"I have one more question," Pam pressed on. "You said you were in love with me before you left Scranton. Do you think you'll ever feel that way again?"

Jim searched her eyes, looking deep inside them for what he so desperately wanted to see. "I never stopped," he finally answered.

Jim watched the smile cross Pam's face. At this moment he felt freer than he had ever been in his life. All the cards were finally on the table. The next move was entirely up to her. Before he knew it, Pam had launched herself into his lap, pressing her lips firmly against his as her fingers snaked up into his hair. Jim smiled into her kiss as he wrapped one arm around her waist while the other hand teased the loose curls that hung down her back. He deepened the kiss slowly, teasing her lips with his tongue until she opened her mouth fully, granting him full control. When she finally drew back from him, her lips swollen from his kiss, Jim rested his head gently against hers. She smiled at him as their gaze met. "So I guess you kind of like me?" she teased him.

"Nah. I think I kind of love you," he teased back, kissing her gently on the forehead.

Pam smiled brightly at him. "I think I kind of love you too," she whispered.

The two of them sat together smiling idiotically at each other, relishing the feelings of love that were spreading over them. Jim leaned back onto the chaise lounge and drew Pam up next to him. She curled up on her side and placed her head on his chest as they laid there watching the sunset around them. Tomorrow was a new day and they were all set to face it together. "Quick question," Jim piped up suddenly. "What are we going to tell everyone at work?"

Pam laughed at his strange question. "Well, I say we don't tell them anything unless they ask. And if they ask, we tell them the truth. Honesty seems to be working pretty well for us right now."

Jim smiled down at her. "You're right. It is."

The two of them curled up together, continuing to watch the sun until it faded into the horizon and brought out a blanket of black dotted with stars.

"Ready to go in?" Jim asked her.

Pam nodded and slipped her hand inside of his as they made their way into the house, neither one able to wipe the huge grins from their faces.

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A/N: So I think this is my longest chapter ever so I hope you all appreciate it. LoL! Let me know what you think of it! Reviews are the peanut butter to my jelly! (Yes, I know it's cheesy)


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Well, here it is! Officially the longest chapter EVER! LoL! I don't know what came over me but it's like the ideas wouldn't stop. Don't hate me for the first half of this chapter. As much as we love them, Jim and Pam aren't perfect people so I had to make them a little unlikeable for a bit. And yes, I pulled a season 4 and jumped ahead a few months. This story's gotta end sometime you know? And yes, this will be the last official chapter. There's an epilogue coming though so don't feel too bad. This story's been quite the adventure! Hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I did!

JinxCokeJam - Yes, vacation was a valid excuse last week although I blame writers block for this chapter. But at least I made up for it with it being a super sized chapter  
waiting4love - I agree, that would be adorable. She was only 7 months old though so I thought it might be a little too soon for her to be talking. Keep reading though!  
Little Sparrow - I couldn't decide on what kind of animal to get. I thought snakes would be too gross for Pam but a dog was a little too high maintenance. The hamster seemed pretty perfect  
tophet - Yay! I'm glad you liked it. Hope you enjoy it 'til the end!  
Aivilo - Well, I touched on that a bit in this chapter. Calm your nerves! Our lovebirds are tough enough to handle anything!  
prudence - Thanks so much! I would like to think that they would be trying their best to push Roy out of their minds so I try not to bring him up too much.  
lulupanda - A giant fluff filled river? I like that! LoL! More fluff soon to come!  
ktface - Yay for all those things! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. I love the idea of them being a small, if not unconventional, family at the moment. More good stuff to come!  
princessdeleon - Yeah, I try not to throw too much heavy stuff at them at once so I try to mix the light hearted stuff in with it. Thanks for the review  
PrimaryColors - Your wish is my command  
jgrrl - Thanks! Here's the next chapter for you!  
Shorty - Thanks so much!  
JimPamJAM - Yeah, I never understood the comment she made in Take Your Daughter To Work Day about not being great with kids. To me, Pam seems like the kind of person that would be great with kids as long as they weren't brats. LoL!

* * *

_Five months later…_

"Jim! Where on earth did you put the tablecloths?!"

The lanky salesman just smiled as the frustrated voice drifted up the stairs to where he sat in the living room, watching the last few minutes of the Patriots game.

"They're in the bag with the rest of the decorations, babe!" he called back, shaking his head with amusement.

"Well, I just looked through there and they're not there! Are you absolutely sure that's where you put them?"

Jim was about to respond when he heard a loud banging noise downstairs, followed by Pam's scolding voice. "Abby! Put those down!"

Jim knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help but laugh at the commotion coming from downstairs. Tomorrow was Abby's birthday party. He, Pam and Abby had been out shopping all day, picking up decorations, food, and some folding chairs that they were borrowing from work. Once they had gotten back to the house, Pam had insisted on setting right to work putting up decorations so they would have less to do tomorrow. When Jim had brought up the Patriots game, he had received nothing less than a disgusted glance from his girlfriend. Seeing that she wouldn't be pacified unless he completely gave in, Jim had promised to help her with the decorations as soon as the game was over, suggesting that she work on some of her sketches until then. She had agreed for a little while, sitting Indian-style on the loveseat with her sketchbook in her lap, working away while Abby played with the large pile of toys that had collected in the living room. After about thirty minutes, Pam looked up from her work to see Jim completely absorbed in the game. "How much longer is this game going to be?" she asked, a level of annoyance creeping into her voice.

"It's the end of the third quarter," he said simply.

Pam rolled her eyes and tossed her sketchbook on the coffee table. "C'mon Abby. Let's go downstairs and try to do something productive." She scooped the child up in her arms and made her way down to the kitchen.

Jim began to open his mouth to protest but decided to be quiet for his own safety. He couldn't understand why she was being so adamant that they start decorating right away. They had all night in his opinion. He merely shrugged and focused his attention back on the game.

His amused state didn't last much longer when Pam's voice got louder and more irritated. "Jim! Will you please come down here?! Your daughter just pulled half of the pots and pans out of the cabinet and I still can't find the damn tablecloths!"

Jim took a calming breath before pulling himself off the couch and making his way downstairs. "Hey sweetie, how about we put these up and play with your magnets instead?" he asked his daughter as he began to pick up the scattered pots and pans that lay around the kitchen. He reached his hand out to Abby and helped her to her feet. The little girl had taken her first steps a couple of weeks ago and was still a bit unsteady. Jim held her hand until she was standing in front of the refrigerator. He lowered a collection of alphabet magnets to her level before turning to meet the glare of a very frustrated Pam. "Now, how about we find those tablecloths?" he asked, trying to act nonchalant about the angry stares she was shooting at him.

"Don't think you're going to charm your way out of this one Halpert! All I ask is for a little help with setting up _your_ daughter's birthday party and what do I get? You sitting like a bump on a log watching some stupid football game!" she angrily threw the towel she had been using on the counter and crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"Come on Pam! I told you I would help you as soon as the game was over! There's no reason for you to be in such a hurry to get all of this done. We have all night and what we don't get done tonight, we can finish in the morning. It's not that big of a deal."

Pam narrowed her eyes at him, her anger bubbling just below the surface, ready to explode at the least little comment. "Fine! If it's really not that big of a deal then handle it yourself! Go finish watching your stupid game! I don't care!"

Jim caught her arm as she tried to storm past him, holding her firmly enough that he wasn't hurting her but she wasn't going anywhere either. "Pam, what is going on with you?" he asked. "I've never seen you act like this."

Jim saw her face soften for a moment but her determination held strong. "Let go of me Jim," she said simply, jerking her arm free when he didn't respond.

He watched her as she stormed through the dining room and up the stairs. He could hear the door to the terrace slam a few moments later. Jim looked down at Abby, who was now sitting at his feet on the kitchen floor. "What just happened here?" he asked the little girl, before reaching down to lift her up into his arms. He decided to start making amends by finding the tablecloths Pam had been searching for. He dug through the bags that were sitting on the kitchen counter, coming up empty-handed. Deciding that they had possibly fallen out in the car, Jim toted Abby outside with him, wrapping her in a thick blanket to protect her from the fierce winter cold. He finally found the tablecloths, peeking out from under the passenger's seat of his car where they had obviously fallen out of the bag. He tucked the tablecloths between himself and Abby and began to head toward the front door when a faint voice caught his attention. He turned slowly and tiptoed down the driveway until he could hear the voice clearly. It was Pam, still outside on the terrace, talking to someone on the phone. After listening for a few moments, Jim deduced that she had called her mom after their argument. As he caught her half of the conversation, Jim instantly felt horrible.

"_I know he's not Roy, Mom. But sometimes he does things and it just reminds me of how Roy used to be."_

"_I know, I know. And I love him too but he can just be so irritating sometimes!"_

"_Well, why do all men have to be like that? I mean, is it really so much to ask?"_

"_Yeah, I guess."_

"_I will, Mom. I promise."_

"_I love you too. Bye."_

Jim crept back around to the front of the house and slipped quietly in the front door, setting Abby down once the door was safely closed and tossing the tablecloths onto the table in the hallway. Abby instantly began to head in the direction of the stairs, with Jim right behind her, matching her step for step as she crawled up to the second floor. Once she was in the living room, Jim closed and locked the safety gate he had installed on the living room door. For a moment, he debated sitting down to finish watching the Patriots game, which he could see from a brief glance at the TV was now in the end of the fourth quarter. Fortunately, he was a smart enough guy to know that a move like that would probably cost him one of the two people he loved most. "The Patriots really aren't worth it," he said to himself, picking up the blanket that Pam kept stored on the back of the couch. He ushered Abby into the rec room which now housed most of her toys and closed the door to the living room, securing it with an extra latch he had installed once Abby learned how to operate the levers on the doors. He kissed her quickly on the head before cautiously stepping out onto the terrace, making sure Abby was occupied and that the screen door secured behind him. Pam was huddled up on one of the lounge chairs under her heavy coat. Tear tracks stained her cheeks and it pained Jim to know that he had been the cause of those tears. Without a word, he stepped up next to the lounge and draped the blanket around her shoulders.

"Where's Abby?" she asked, her gaze averted to anywhere but where Jim stood.

"She's right inside. I've got her locked in the rec room so I can keep an eye on her while we're out here."

"You can go back inside. You don't have to stay out here."

"I know. But it doesn't feel so great sitting inside when I know you're out here freezing because you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you."

"Really? Well you could have fooled me."

Jim instantly regretted the words as soon as he said them. He had merely been trying to lighten the situation but he realized his words could easily be taken the wrong way, and that was exactly how Pam took them.

"Okay Jim! You want me to be mad? Fine! And if that bothers you, I don't really care right now!"

Jim fought his knee-jerk reaction to snap back at her, knowing that would do more harm than good. He stood silent for a few moments, collecting his thoughts before approaching her again.

"What I meant to say," he began, "is that I get that you're not happy with me right now. And I know it's because I was watching the game rather than helping you. And I'm sorry if that upset you. What I don't get is why you're so worked up about it."

Pam finally turned to look at him, noticing for the first time that he wasn't even wearing a jacket, just the hooded sweatshirt he had put on when they got back to the house. She instantly yanked the blanket from around her shoulders and tossed it to Jim. "Here! You need this more than I do."

Jim tilted his head at her in thanks, peeked inside the door to check on Abby, and took a seat on the lounge across from her. "So, do you want to tell me what's got you so worked up?" he asked.

Pam sat silently for a few moments, trying to collect her thoughts into exactly what she wanted to say. "I guess I was just remembering back to all the times Roy would do the same thing," she finally admitted. "I mean, I would ask him to do something and it would always be 'after the game' or 'the guys are coming over, I'll do it after they leave' and then it would never happen. I always felt like such a nag because I would have to ask him to do things three or four times before they would ever get done. And even then he would grumble and complain about it the whole time saying that he wished he had never gotten married and all of this other stuff. And I know you're nothing like him. I get that. I guess it's just hard to get past all the bad memories and realize that not every guy is like Roy."

Jim finally understood all of her frustration. As much as he hated being compared to that man, he knew it was going to take a long time for Pam to finally accept that he wouldn't be the horrible monster Roy had been. "I'm sorry, honey. I really wasn't trying to get under your skin. I guess part of the reason I've been putting off this party is because a year ago tomorrow wasn't just the day Abby was born. That was the day Karen died also. And I know I shouldn't let that cloud hang over the celebration of Abby's birthday but it's kind of hard not to."

Now it was Pam's turn to be understanding as she watched the man she loved sitting across from her, doing his best to not let the tears escape the corner of his eyes. She watched as one single tear managed to break free and run down his cheek. She gently ran her finger across his face, catching the tear before it could completely fall and placed a loving kiss on the spot it had vacated. "I'm sorry too. I guess I didn't really think about how hard tomorrow was going to be for you. Call it selfish, but sometimes I try not to remember that another woman once held your heart. And I know I shouldn't feel like that. I guess I'm a little jealous that she got to experience what real love was like while I dealt with a man who only kept me around to take care of him. I know it's my own fault but sometimes I wish I knew then what I know now."

"We've both done things we're not proud of, Pam. The important thing is that we have no regrets. If things hadn't happened the way that they did, we probably wouldn't be sitting here right now. And that amazing little girl wouldn't be in there waiting for us to come back in and play with her."

Pam's eyes followed the trail Jim's finger pointed out to see Abby standing up just inside the door, her tiny hands smacking the glass. The two of them looked at each other and smiled.

"So am I forgiven?" Jim asked.

Pam simply smiled and pressed her lips firmly against his. Once their kiss broke, the pair stood up and made their way back into the house.

* * *

When Pam awoke the next morning, she rolled over only to collide with a large hump right beside her on the bed. She smiled, tracing the contours of his face and body with her eyes. She had agreed to stay over the night before after Jim had pleaded the argument that it would save time on decorating for the party if she were already there rather than having to get out of bed and dressed before driving over to the house. As he lay asleep beside her, Pam studied his face carefully. He looked so peaceful and content. She could swear she had never met anyone that slept with a smile on their face until now. Even in his sleep, his goofy, lopsided grin was endearing. Pam sighed with contentment, feeling completely at peace with the world as long as Jim was right beside her. She snuggled closer to him, placing soft, fluttering kisses on his bare chest until he finally stirred.

Jim let out a low groan as he stretched his long limbs, using one arm to circle around the woman at his side. "Good morning beautiful." His voice was raspy from just waking up and Pam thought he never sounded sexier.

"Good morning," she answered, her kisses making a trail from his chest up to his neck and finally across his jaw line to his waiting lips.

"And…a good morning…it certainly is," he managed to get out between kisses. As she leaned further into him, Jim circled his arm around her waist flipping her onto her back while still not breaking the kiss. No sooner had his hand begun to trail under the t-shirt Pam had worn to bed, than a series of babbling came through over the monitor. Jim let out a frustrated groan as he dropped back to his side of the bed. "Good morning Abby," he said sarcastically while Pam giggled beside him.

"I'll go get her," she offered. "Why don't you go ahead and hop in the shower? You probably need it worse than I do right now," she teased with a wink.

"Very funny Beesly," he said before kissing her one more time.

Pam reluctantly rolled out of the bed and padded down the hallway to Abby's room. She poked her head in the door to find the little girl holding onto the railings of her crib as she bounced up and down excitedly. "Good morning baby girl!" Pam greeted her cheerily. She held her arms out to the little girl who responded with the same gesture. Pam lifted her from the crib and settled her onto the changing table to change her diaper and dress her in some fresh clothes. "Guess what," she said to Abby. "Today is your birthday! You're one! Can you say one?" Pam held one finger up in front of the little girl's face and wiggled it as she tapped her gently on the nose.

Abby giggled in response and reached up to grab Pam's finger.

"Hey! I need that if I'm going to get you dressed!" Pam said playfully, carefully wriggling her finger free from the little girl's grip. Once Abby's diaper was changed Pam put her in a long sleeved red t-shirt and a pair of jeans with little ladybugs near the bottom. She figured this would work as a temporary outfit until they put her in the dress that had been picked out specifically for the party. It was a long-sleeved pink dress with the words "Birthday Princess" written across the front with a little silver crown underneath. Pam had loved it the moment she saw it. However, it had taken some convincing to talk Jim into making the purchase.

_Jim and Pam had been out all day running errands together when Jim had suggested stopping at the local baby store to pick up some necessities. While Jim debated the pros and cons of doorway gates vs. the SuperYard with the salesgirl, Pam had wandered over to look through the sea of little girls clothes in the middle of the store. What she had found on the rack at the front of the store had made her day. The little pink dress was absolutely adorable. If Abby were with them instead of spending time with her grandparents, Pam would have insisted that she put it on right then. She found the dress in the appropriate size and skipped to the other side of the store where Jim was still deliberating about gates. "Jim!" she called to him excitedly._

_Jim turned to face her and instantly averted his eyes to the hanger in her hands. "Pam, what have you found this time?" he asked with a concerned tone, knowing she had a tendency to get carried away over little girls clothes, insisting that Abby "had to" have it because it was "so adorable". _

"_It's a birthday dress! Every little girl has to have a birthday dress!"_

"_Pam, she has tons of dresses she can wear for her birthday dress."_

"_Yeah, but this one says 'Birthday Princess' on it! And you know her Pop-Pop always calls her his little princess!"_

"_Okay, but seriously, this is a dress she will wear once and then be put in a closet only to be dug out years later for a garage sale."_

"_Welcome to the world of women, Halpert! Wait until she's old enough for school dances and prom. There will be more of your money spent on dresses that are worn one time. You might as well get used to it now."_

"_First of all, let's not talk about her and school dances when she's not even one-year-old yet. Second of all…" Jim looked at her sternly. "Put it in the cart." _

_Pam threw her arms around him excitedly and kissed him noisily on the cheek. "And that's why I love you, Halpert. You're always so reasonable." She dropped the dress into the cart, admiring it as it lay across a box of diapers and a new humidifier to replace the one that had quit working a few days before. _

"_I hope you remember that one day when you're begging me to buy you a new pair of shoes that are just like the ones you already have," Jim teased._

"_Seriously Jim, do you think you're talking to Kelly here or something? I don't even buy myself new shoes. I just have a soft spot for adorable little girls named Abby."_

_Jim slid an arm around her waist and drew her to his side, kissing her lovingly on the temple. "I know you do. And I have a soft spot for beautiful women named Pam Beesly. They happen to be my favorite."_

Pam smiled at the memory as she finished putting a pair of tiny Keds on Abby's feet. Jim had insisted on buying those so she could be just like Pam. Once Abby was successfully dressed, Pam held her hands and allowed her to walk cautiously down the hallway and into Jim's bedroom. While Abby played with the TV remote, Pam set about straightening up the room. She picked up the clothes that were randomly tossed around the room and threw them into the hamper inside the closet. She was working on getting Jim's unusually large collection of sneakers into some sort of order when he emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Shower's all yours," he announced to Pam before kneeling down in front of Abby. "Happy birthday sweetie!" he said, pulling her toward him and kissing her on the cheek. "I can't believe you're one already."

Jim and Pam watched with awe as Abby held up one of her tiny fingers.

"Did you see that?" Jim asked, proudly.

Pam knelt down beside him on the carpeted floor. "Abby, are you one?" she asked the little girl.

Again, Abby held up her finger.

"Good job sweetie!" Jim cheered her while clapping his hands. Abby returned the gesture by clapping herself.

"That's a smart little girl you have there Halpert," Pam informed him. "I just taught her that while I was getting her dressed."

Pam crossed the bedroom and dug some clothes out of one of the dresser drawers Jim had cleaned out for her a few months before. "See you two in a minute!" she said before disappearing into the bathroom.

When Pam felt she looked presentable, she wandered out of the bedroom and down the hallway to the living room. Jim and Abby had been nowhere in sight when she had finished her shower so she figured he had taken her downstairs for breakfast. Pam stopped by the living room to drop some food in Izzy's food dish. The hamster had become one of Abby's favorite toys, giggling with glee every time he climbed into his exercise wheel and made it spin. She heard Jim clanging around in the kitchen and made her way in the direction of the noise. "What's for breakfast?" she asked, as she skipped into the kitchen and settled onto one of the stools positioned in the corner of the room.

"Well, I was going to make eggs so Abby can have some and I figured I could throw on some sausage too," Jim answered, turning from his task of beating eggs for a brief moment.

"Sounds great!" Pam chirped. "I think I'm going to start on hanging up some more of these decorations."

With Abby's birthday being so close to Christmas, the house was already pretty thoroughly decorated with wreaths and holly and candles and garland and whatever else Pam had thought appropriate. Jim had never really helped much with Christmas decorations when he was younger. He had left that to his mom and sister, although he always enjoyed helping to decorate the tree every year. Jim had reluctantly agreed to let Pam be in control of decorating the house for Christmas, drawing the line when she had insisted on the lighted sled with reindeer for the front yard. She had settled instead for icicle lights around the porch, red ribbon wrapped around the support poles, and a wreath on the front door.

Jim had picked the Mickey and Minnie Mouse theme for the party. Luckily, there were several Christmas and birthday decorations showcasing the famous duo. Pam was currently unfolding the crepe paper decorations which were to go on the table on either side of the birthday cake. While Jim continued working on breakfast, Pam set to work inflating balloons with the small helium tank they had purchased from the party supply store. Once she had a sizeable collection, she tied three pink balloons together and toted them down to the mailbox where she secured them with a tight knot and an old hairclip. By the time she returned to the house, Jim had breakfast on the table and was working on getting Abby to eat her eggs.

Just as they were finishing their breakfast, the chiming of the doorbell could be heard ringing through the house. While Jim loaded the dishes into the dishwasher, Pam swung Abby up onto her hip and made her way to the front door. She was greeted by Jim's sister Emily and her new boyfriend Nathan.

"Hey Emily! Hi Nathan!" Pam welcomed them as she opened the door a little wider.

"Hey Pam! And hello to my precious little niece! You want to come see Aunt Emily?" she asked, extending her arms to the little girl. Abby gladly went to her aunt while Pam set about taking their coats to put in the guest bedroom.

"We figured we'd come by early to help out with party decorations. I hope that's okay," Emily explained.

"Absolutely!" Pam agreed. "Putting up decorations with a toddler around is quite a chore. I'm going to put your coats in the guest room. Jim should still be in the kitchen if you want to go say hi."

"Awesome! Thanks Pam!" Emily and Nathan set off in the direction of the kitchen while Pam made her way to the guestroom. By the time she rejoined the group, Jim had already set Emily to work making punch while Nathan helped him hang a banner above the doorway. Abby sat in the middle of the floor with a couple of pots and a plastic ladle, clanging them all together noisily.

For the next few hours, the four of them worked on getting the house set up for the birthday party. Around 11:30, Jim took Abby upstairs for her afternoon nap so she would be awake and in a good mood for her party, which was scheduled at 1:30. When the last decoration was finally put up, Pam and Emily set to work on getting all of the food ready while Nathan and Jim set up extras tables and folding chairs. Pam quickly went over the list she had made the night before of all the things they needed to do. "Okay, it's 12:30 so the cake should be ready. We need someone to go pick it up and get some bags of ice."

"Oh, Nathan and I can do that!" Emily volunteered. "I'm sure you and Jim already know how things need to be set up here so it would make more sense for us to go."

"Awesome!" Jim answered, pulling his debit card from his wallet. "The cake is at Becker's Bakery under Halpert. Just make sure it looks okay and everything is spelled right."

"No problem. We'll be back in a little while!" Emily called over her shoulder as she and Nathan slipped out the front door.

"Ah! Alone at last!" Jim whispered as he slipped up behind Pam, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing soft kisses on her neck.

"Jim, come on! Focus, please!" she pleaded half-heartedly as his arms wrapped tighter around her. "We have to have everything ready by the time our guests get here."

"Don't worry. It will be," he whined, turning her slowly so she was facing him and bringing his mouth hungrily down on hers.

Pam lost herself in his kiss, slipping her arms up around his neck and toying with the loose hairs that hung just above the collar of his green polo shirt. They were interrupted once again when Abby could be heard over the monitor Jim had brought downstairs.

"Have I mentioned that my daughter has impeccable timing?" he asked with a laugh. He reluctantly disentangled himself from Pam's arms and jogged up the stairs to get Abby.

While he was up there, he decided to go ahead and get her dressed for the party. He made quick work of changing her diaper and slipping her into the pretty pink dress. Once all the buttons and zippers were secured, Jim stood Abby up on the changing table in front of him. "I can't believe it's been a year already," he said as he admired his beautiful little girl. "I know it's cliché but it seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital holding you for the first time. And now here you are walking and learning all these new things. You're growing up too fast on me, kid."

Abby grabbed his face between her tiny hands and giggled, rolling her tongue as she did so. Jim put his arm securely around his daughter as he turned to face the mural Pam had painted on the opposite wall. "I'll bet your mommy is up in Heaven right now watching you and being so proud of you. I wish she was here to see you today." Jim carried Abby over closer to the wall with the mural. "I miss her so much," he whispered. Abby once again reached out her hands, but this time she placed them over the face of the angel that was painted on the wall. Jim choked back his tears as he watched Abby blow a kiss at the picture of her mother before beaming her famous smile. He kissed her repeatedly on the head before repeating her gesture and blowing a kiss to the angel. "Don't worry Karen. I haven't forgotten you and I never will. I know you've been looking out for us every step of the way for the past year. Sometimes Pam will say or do something that reminds me of you and I'm always wondering if you were behind it somehow. It wouldn't surprise me. You always were a sneaky prankster. I miss you, Karen and I wish you were still here to see your little girl grow up. Don't forget, I'll always love you."

Jim smiled to himself before toting Abby out of the room and back downstairs.

* * *

The doorbell began ringing promptly at 1:30 and continued for the next half hour. Pam and Jim were constantly running back and forth, answering the door, putting away coats, and setting gifts on their designated table. On Pam's sixth trip to the door, she was greeted by a group of people she knew she recognized but couldn't quite place them. "Hi! I'm Pam!" she greeted them warmly.

"Ohhh…so you're the famous Pam!" the younger woman piped up. "I'm Erin, Abby's aunt. This is my mom, Tina and my dad, Harold."

Pam suddenly recalled them from the pictures Jim had brought back from Stamford. "Oh! You're Karen's parents and sister! It's so good to finally meet you! I've heard nothing but good things about you!" Pam began collecting their coats as Jim wandered into the hallway.

"Hey! How is everyone?" he exclaimed, enveloping each of them into a warm hug.

"Great!" Tina finally spoke up. "And there's a carload of presents out there if you want to help Harold unload them. When everyone heard we were coming here for Abby's birthday party, the presents started rolling in."

"Awesome! Pam, will you show Tina and Erin here where they can find the food and everything while I help Harold with the gifts?" Jim asked.

"Sure. Right this way," she gestured with her hand as she led them into the dining room. All the food is in here along with the punch. If you don't particularly care for punch, there's also soda in a tub of ice in the kitchen, which is right through that door. I'm going to put your coats and things in the guest room and if you'd like to see the guest of honor, the last time I saw her she was in the living room with Jim's sister Emily."

Erin smiled warmly back at Pam. "Thanks Pam! We're dying to see Abby so I guess we'll go try and hunt her down."

Pam noticed Tina studying her thoroughly. _She's probably thinking I'm some kind of home wrecker or something, _Pam thought to herself as she carried their coats off to the guestroom.

By 2:30, most of the guests had arrived and Pam and Jim were busy mingling with everyone, trying to make sure everyone had a chance to see Abby for at least a little while. Jim searched through the downstairs until he spotted Pam, who looked almost pained, sitting across from Kelly, who was jabbering away about anything and everything. "Hey Pam, I need your help with something. Kelly, can you excuse us for a minute?" he asked. Before Kelly could respond, he tugged playfully on Pam's arm and led her to the other side of the room.

"Thank you so much! I'm not sure how much more pop culture I could ingest in one day," Pam groaned.

Jim laughed, imagining all of the things Kelly could have possibly been talking about. "Well, you're welcome, but I really did need you for something. Is there some kind of plan for this party or are we just going to go with the flow? Because I know we still need to do the cake and the presents and all the other stuff you do at birthday parties."

Pam checked her watch. "Well, I was going to save the cake for later since she's probably going to be an absolute mess after she eats it but I want to make sure everyone gets a piece too. Why don't we go ahead and do the presents, and by the time she finishes those I guess we could do the cake? That way we get everything out of the way before she gets too tired and cranky."

"Sounds like a plan," Jim agreed and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "You're the best Beesly."

Pam smiled happily as she turned back toward the guests, only to be met by the unhappy face of Tina Filippelli. She quickly turned her attention to straightening the decorations on the table in front of her. Her distraction only worked for a few moments until Tina stepped up beside her. "Pam, do you mind if I speak with you in private for a moment?" she asked.

Pam's eyes widened and she nodded solemnly in agreement. "We can go upstairs. I don't think anyone's up there."

The two women climbed the stairs and Pam fiddled with the latch on the gate that was blocking the living room door. When it finally released, they stepped into the room and Tina instantly began admiring the hamster cage. "Jim never mentioned he got a pet," she noted, tapping on the plastic cage.

"Oh, yeah, I got that for him and Abby when they came back from visiting you guys in Stamford. It was all part of this inside joke Jim and I had," Pam waved her hand dismissively. "You want to have a seat?" she asked the older woman as she gestured toward the couch.

Tina nodded and took a seat on one end of the sofa while Pam took the other. Pam sat silently, waiting for Tina to say what she needed to.

Tina sat wringing her hands together, finally speaking up a few moments later. "Pam, did Jim tell you anything about the conversation we had during his last visit?"

Pam nodded, knowing exactly where the conversation was going. "Yes. He did. He said that you were a little upset about our relationship and that you thought things were happening a little too fast."

"And what was your reaction to that?"

"Well, I have to be honest. At first I was a bit upset about it but at the same time I saw where you were coming from. I mean, it hadn't even been a year since everything happened with Karen and he was still grieving her. I just want you to know that it was never my intention to fall in love with Jim. It just kind of happened. He was my best friend for years before he moved away and when he came back I thought that's how it would be again. But somewhere in the middle of it all, I fell in love with him. He just has that kind of charm that loves to sneak up on you I guess."

Tina actually cracked a smile at Pam's comment. "That he does," she agreed. "I remember when Karen first called to tell us about him. She was never the type to get flustered over a guy so we knew he was something special. And when she brought him over for dinner that first time, I could see why she was so crazy about him. You're right, he is a charming guy. And I knew it wouldn't take long for another woman to notice it. I just never thought it would be the woman whose husband was responsible for taking my daughter away."

Pam jerked her head up, stunned by the woman's statement. "How did you…" she started.

"We saw you at the sentencing. We found a broadcast of the news story they did on the hearing on one of the Scranton TV station websites. They were mentioning everyone that was present and they panned over to you when they mentioned the man's wife. I saw Jim standing there next to you and didn't put two and two together at the time. But when you answered the door, I recognized you right away. I guess that's why I was a little standoffish when I first got here."

"Wow. I am so sorry."

"It's alright Pam," Tina said gently. "None of this was your fault. I see that now. I really just wanted to make sure that this thing with you and Jim was the real deal, from both sides. Anyone can see that he's crazy about you. I just wanted to make sure the feeling was mutual. He's a great guy and he doesn't deserve to be hurt again."

Pam smiled thoughtfully at the woman who had every reason to hate her, but instead chose to give her a chance. "Thank you Mrs. Filippelli. And I can promise you that I will do everything within my power to make sure that Jim is happy and taken care of. And that goes for Abby too. I would walk through fire for that little girl."

"Good. I'm glad to hear it. Now why don't we get back downstairs before we miss all the festivities? We're only here for one night and I want to make sure I get every second I can with my granddaughter."

"I completely understand. And again, thank you for giving me a second chance. I promise I won't let you down."

Tina tipped her head in acknowledgement before leaving the room to rejoin the party. Pam followed a few moments later, only to be met at the base of the stairs by a tall, floppy haired father in a Mickey Mouse party hat.

"Hey! Where've you been? I've been trying to round up everyone to watch her open presents but they're all strangely fascinated by some story about a bear that Dwight insisted on telling."

Pam giggled and reached to straighten the hat on top of his head. "I was actually upstairs talking to your mother-in-law."

Jim's eyes widened with surprise. "And…"

"And we've come to…an understanding," Pam grinned up at him before rising on her tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the lips.

"Okay, I'm not going to ask. But now that you're down here can you _please_ help get this party under control? I don't want my daughter having nightmares about bears."

Pam saluted him playfully. "Absolutely I will."

A few moments later, Pam had everyone gathered in the downstairs living room to watch Abby open her presents, or rather, Jim opening Abby's presents with a little help from the distracted toddler. Harold sat nearby, proudly working the video camera while Pam sat next to them on the floor, writing down all the gifts for thank-you notes to mail out later. By the time they reached the bottom of the pile, Abby had an abundant collection of toys and clothes scattered around her. "Well, between today and Christmas coming up, I don't think she's going to be needing much of anything else," Jim teased as he began piling the open gifts in the corner to be sorted through later.

"So who's ready for cake?" Pam announced as Jim helped her up off the floor.

"I do! I do!" Toby's daughter Sasha piped up.

Everyone laughed politely as Pam tried to herd everyone into the dining room. Jim toted Abby in right behind her. "Okay, first we need to get her out of that dress if you don't want it ruined," Pam whispered to him. She ran toward the laundry closet and dug through the dryer until she found an old Care Bears t-shirt that had been handed down to Abby from one of her older cousins. By the time she returned to the kitchen, she found Jim and Tina both struggling to get Abby out of the party dress and her shoes. Pam lent her pair of hands to help out and slipped the t-shirt over the little girl's head once she was out of the dress.

"Alright baby girl, time to let you make a mess!" she announced. At that moment, Emily emerged from the kitchen carrying the small chocolate cake that the bakery had included as part of their first birthday package. Everyone sang "Happy Birthday", with Michael taking the high harmony as usual, and watched Emily place the cake in front of Abby, who was starting to get sleepy and cranky.

"Okay, sweetie. Time to dig in!" Jim told the little girl as he knelt beside her high chair. Abby just stared quizzically at the cake for a few moments before Jim took her hand and placed it in the gooey mess. Once she figured out what she was supposed to do, Abby reached both hands in and grabbed as much cake as her tiny fingers could hold. Within a few short moments, she had cake all over her shirt, her face, and even in her hair. Harold continued with the video camera while Erin snapped pictures with the pile of cameras that sat on the table in front of her.

"That looks yummy. Can Daddy have some?" Jim asked as he leaned over Abby's high chair. She responded by putting a chocolate covered hand in his face, getting more on his nose than in his mouth. "Oh, thank you!" he said before planting a kiss on her cheek, which only proceeded to get more cake on his face.

Meanwhile, Pam had been cutting the larger cake into small squares to serve to the guests. "Okay! Anyone who wants cake, come and get it!" she announced to the group. As everyone began picking up the small plates of cake, Pam slipped back around the table to stand by Jim and Abby.

"Okay, I think you're more of a mess than she is right now," Pam teased him.

"Really Beesly? Well, I think I know of a way to remedy that."

"Don't you dare!" Pam managed to squeal before Jim had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a chocolate-filled kiss. He proceeded to brush his nose against her cheek, just to make sure she got plenty of cake on her face as well. "I hate you," she said through a playful glare.

* * *

At the end of the day when Abby was bathed and put to bed, Jim and Pam dropped exhaustedly on the couch. The Filippelli's had already excused themselves for the evening with Harold and Tina settled downstairs in the guestroom and Erin on the pull-out sofa in the rec room. "What a day!" Jim commented, propping his feet up on the coffee table.

"You're telling me! I thought Michael was never going to leave! And I swear I heard him say something to Dwight about a sleepover!" Pam exclaimed.

"I wouldn't put it past him. Thank God Jan called or we never would have gotten rid of him."

Pam yawned noisily and curled up at Jim's side, laying her head on his shoulder.

"So does this mean you're sleeping over again tonight?" Jim asked playfully.

Pam slapped him playfully on the chest. "Do you really think that's a good idea when you already have company here?"

Jim hung his head and answered, "No. I guess not. Do you think you'll be able to make it home okay? I mean, you've been going non-stop all day. I know you have to be tired."

"Yeah, I think I'll be alright," Pam managed through another yawn.

Jim laughed at her feeble attempts to humor him. "Okay, but you'd better go now. Otherwise I think you'll fall asleep at the wheel before you even start the car."

Pam groaned playfully as she stood up from her place on the couch. "Okay, walk me out Halpert."

Jim took her small hand in his as they made their way down the stairs and out the front door. "Call me when you get home okay? Otherwise I'm going to be worried."

"I will. If you don't hear from me, I guess you can assume I ended up in a ditch somewhere."

Even through her hazy cloud of drowsiness, Pam winced at the words that had just left her mouth. "Jim, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that!" She watched as the shadows of pain rolled over his eyes and it broke her heart to know she had caused them. "Of all the stupid things I've ever said, I think that is now at the top of the list. Especially considering what today is. I'm so, so, so sorry Jim!"

"Pam," he choked out, willing her to meet his gaze. "It's okay. You don't have to apologize a hundred times. Just promise me that you'll be careful okay?"

Pam nodded solemnly before turning to walk toward her car. Jim watched her walk away slowly. He could see that she still felt horrible about what she had said. He instinctively jogged after her. "Pam!" he called.

She turned just in time for Jim to swoop her into his arms for a deep, passionate kiss, which she responded to eagerly. When he could no longer breathe, Jim pulled away, resting his forehead against hers. "I love you Pam. And I never, ever want to lose you," he whispered with jagged breaths.

"You won't Jim. I promise. I love you and there is nothing on this earth that could take me away from you."

Jim pressed a loving kiss to her forehead before reaching around her to open the car door. She slid in carefully and cracked the window once she turned the engine on.

"Goodnight Jim," she said, blowing him a kiss through the crack in the window.

"Goodnight Pam. Drive safe!" he called after her as she backed down the driveway. He watched her car drive down the street until her taillights faded in the distance. Shivering from the winter cold, he made his way back into the house, not able to relax until he heard his cell phone chirp from its place on the end table. He hurriedly grabbed it, realizing it was a text message.

_Too tired to call but I'm safe at home. I'll call you tomorrow morning. I love you!_

_-Pam_

Jim smiled with contentment as he closed his phone. He tiptoed down the hallway and checked in on Abby before slipping into his bedroom. He smiled as he noticed the little touches of Pam that sat around his room. A hair clip on the dresser, a half full sketchbook on the nightstand, one of her shirts hanging on the back of the door, everything about this room reminded him of her. He remembered nights when they would lie in his bed, talking until early the next morning. He remembered waking up on countless mornings to find her lying next to him, the early morning sunlight shimmering across her hair like flecks of gold. He remembered the gentle touches and whispered promises from the first time they had made love. Yes, this room held many happy memories for the two of them. Jim silently hoped that there would be many years of happy memories to come. He crossed the bedroom and opened the top drawer of his dresser, digging until he found the pair of old gray ones he was looking for. He unfolded the pair and withdrew the small velvet box he had hidden inside them. Jim slowly raised the lid on the box until it revealed the diamond ring that lay inside. A broad grin crossed his face when he thought about one day when Pam would wear that ring on her finger. It had taken everything within him not to give it to her yet. He had bought it two weeks after his trip to Stamford and had been hiding it in his sock drawer ever since. Even after a couple of close calls when Pam surprised him by putting away his laundry, she thankfully hadn't discovered the ring. He snapped the box closed again and tucked it back inside the socks. "Soon," he said to himself. "Very soon."

* * *

A/N: How's that for a cliffhanger? Haha! Holding true to my title! Review please! I really want to know what you guys thought about this chapter!


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Okay, so I lied. I know I said there was only the epilogue left but I still had one more chapter in me apparently. I actually had two ideas for the epilogue and couldn't decide between them so I'm going to include both. One is this chapter and one will be the actual epilogue. So, you guys have one more installment of this story to come. Hope you like it!

lulupanda - That IS what she said. LoL! I thought it was about time they had a fight. It makes the making up that much sweeter. Hehe!  
Moony - Yay! I'm glad you're all caught up now. Thanks for still reviewing! I was having the worst time coming up with a legitimate fight and that one was based off of my best friend and her husband. LoL!  
ktface - Yes, I like to keep bringing Karen back into the mix. I don't want them to forget her completely. Glad you're still with me!  
prudence - Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying this story to the end. It's been a crazy ride but a heck of a lot of fun too!  
waiting4love - So you were screaming at the screen at the end of that chapter? 'Cause I sure was at the season finale. I try to stay true to the show but some things I just have to change LoL!  
jgrrrl - Thanks! I try to keep them as real as possible. I think sometimes on the show they come across as being these perfect beings in a crazy messed up group of people. This is kind of how I see them "behind closed doors"  
JimPamJAM - I love all the office characters so I try to cameo them as much as possible. I'm glad you think I've done them justice  
Little Sparrow - I know, I know...it sucks that they had to fight but no couple is perfect. Not even Jim and Pam. I tried to stay true to their characters with it too so hopefully it all worked out  
Shorty - Thanks! Again, your wish is my command...  
primarycolors - Okay, so it wasn't the end. I promise I'll stop lying after this one. Hehe!  
tophet - Thanks so much! You'll have to wait a little longer for the epi though...can you tell I'm a very indecisive person? hehe  
Aivilo - Well, the epilogue is going to kind of be a "part two" but I'm going to leave a lot to the imagination with it. Don't worry though! This definitely won't be my last fic! I already have a bunch of new ideas!  
dancer - Yeah, I had to work them through a lot to get them to the point where they're ready to take that next big step. I'm glad you're liking it  
MrsBigTuna - WOW! That was officially the longest review EVER! LoL! I don't know what to say except THANK YOU! That review truly brightened my day. I'm so glad you're enjoying this story so much. Make sure to let me know when you finish that vid! I want to see "the brain child of my brain child. My brain grandchild if you will" LoL

* * *

The stage was set. Everything was ready. And Jim couldn't have been more nervous. His plans had been stalled so many times he couldn't believe the moment was finally here. The major holidays were now out of the way. Pam had stayed home for Christmas and New Years while he and Abby had tagged along with her to go visit her parents for Easter. Pam's family had been completely enamored by Abby, even going so far as to give her an Easter basket full of little fruit snacks and stuffed animals.

The summer months were nearing, bringing with them promises of new beginnings. Pam had been busy for the last week, training her replacement at Dunder Mifflin. While out for dinner with Jim and Abby one evening, Pam had been approached by her old college roommate, Leslie, who was an economics teacher at Scranton Middle School. Leslie had been telling Pam about the shortage of teachers for the next school year and Pam's ears had perked up at the mention of a vacated art teacher position. After getting the needed information from Leslie, Pam had submitted her resume to the school along with a portfolio of several pieces of artwork she had completed over the years. The phone call had come in two weeks ago, letting Pam know that she had been chosen for the position. The school board had arranged for her to attend art school at the Pratt Institute in New York City in order to receive the classes needed for her accreditation. Her classes were to begin in two weeks and would last for six more weeks, getting her home just in time to begin setting up her classroom before school started back in Lackawanna County. Jim had been thrilled for her. He watched proudly as all of her dreams began to come true. He knew the teaching job was just a step toward something bigger but at least she was finally making that crucial step. Although the thought of going to work at Dunder Mifflin everyday without her sitting behind the reception counter made his stomach turn, he knew the last thing he wanted was to hold her back. Roy had made that mistake for years and Jim was not about to make history repeat itself. Tonight would be one more step in his quest to prove to Pam that he was behind her 100 percent.

Jim ran upstairs one last time to check on his surprise. "Perfect," he proclaimed. He reached into his pocket to make sure the little velvet box was still safely tucked away as he made his way back downstairs. He stopped in the foyer to peek in on Abby, who was busily riding the wooden rocking horse Karen's father had made her for Christmas. As Jim was turning toward the kitchen, the front door swung open and Pam slipped inside, her arms laden with bags of groceries.

"Hey honey!" she greeted him cheerily, placing a quick peck on his cheek. "Sorry it took me so long to get here. I was in the mood for quesadillas and I knew you didn't have anything here to make them so I stopped by the grocery store."

Jim shook his head in disbelief and took the bags from her arms just as Abby came running up to the gate that was blocking her entrance to the foyer. "Mama!" she chirped, holding her arms up for Pam.

"Hey baby girl!" Pam answered back, swinging Abby up onto her hip and planting a kiss on her cheek as well.

The little girl had begun forming various small words since her first birthday. She had mastered "dad" easily along with a few other select words like "ball" and "hey". "Mama" had come up one evening while Abby was playing in the living room.

_She was running past the coffee table when her tiny hand smacked into hard wood, causing a red welt to pop up instantly. She screamed in pain, only to be scooped up by Jim seconds later. The child continued to cry and turned quickly to the sound of Pam's voice, trying to soothe her. _

"_Mama!" she had cried, reaching her arms out for Pam. Pam and Jim's eyes met with a look of shocked amusement as she took Abby into her arms, rocking the child back and forth comfortingly. The two of them stood in stunned silence for a few moments, neither knowing what to say or do in response to the child's words. Finally, Jim had stepped up beside them and pulled them both into his arms. _

"_It's okay, sweetie," he soothed the child as she continued to cry. "Mama's got you." _

_Pam swung her head around to meet Jim's eyes. "Jim, are you sure?" she asked timidly._

_Jim just smiled at the questioning look in her eyes. "Pam, you're a mother to her in every sense of the word. The fact that you didn't give birth to her shouldn't make any difference. Or course, it's completely up to you if you want that responsibility. I'm not going to force it on you," he said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear._

_Pam furiously blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. "I can't imagine a greater honor," she answered, snuggling closer to Jim as he wrapped his arms tighter around them._

Jim toted the groceries into the kitchen, followed closely by Pam and Abby. "So I guess we're having quesadillas for dinner?" Jim teased her as he began putting the groceries away.

"Absolutely we are. Unless of course, you were planning on cooking something better," Pam teased back.

"Well, as appealing as leftover spaghetti sounded, I think I can handle some quesadillas."

"Leftover spaghetti huh? At least if Abby doesn't care for quesadillas, we have something else she can eat."

"Why do you think I try to always have leftovers?"

"Well kiddo, can we trust you to play in here while we cook dinner?" Pam asked the little girl. She sat Abby down on the floor and gave her the plastic bowls and spatulas that were reserved especially for her to play with. Abby toddled around the kitchen, noisily clanging the items together in her hands while Jim and Pam worked on preparing dinner. When the quesadillas were done, Jim worked on cutting up the small chicken and cheese that had been made for Abby while Pam served the rest of the food and placed it on the table. She reached into the refrigerator and pulled out two cans of soda and Abby's juice jug. After digging through a few cabinets, Pam finally located one of Abby's sippy cups and poured the juice into it. "You know Jim, you should really organize these cabinets one day. There are glasses in with the plates and sippy cups in with the pots and pans. I think I even found a fork in the drawer with the sandwich bags the other day."

"You mean you don't like my organized mess?" Jim asked, giving her his puppy dog eyes.

"I don't know if organized is the word I would use. You've got the mess part right though," Pam teased him. She crossed the kitchen and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "I still love you though."

"I love you too, Pam. Even if you do have some OCD tendencies."

Pam slapped him playfully on the arm and turned her attention to the little girl playing on the floor. "You ready to eat baby girl?"

Abby nodded her head and ran in the direction of her high chair. Pam pulled the little girls shirt up over her head and fastened her in the chair, handing her the sippy cup while she waited. Jim finally sat the plate of cooled quesadilla in front of her as he and Pam sat down to enjoy their dinner. They watched Abby as they ate, laughing as she took her first bite of the cheesy dish. Once they determined she would eat the rest of her meal, Jim and Pam worked on cleaning their own plates.

Once dinner was over and the dishes had been put away, Jim worked quickly to wipe Abby down with a wet washcloth. He turned to find Pam wiping the remaining crumbs from the table. "Hey, guess what," he whispered, slipping up behind her.

"What?" she asked with a shy smile.

"We…" he gestured between himself and Abby, "…have a surprise for you. But, I have something I need to do before I can show it to you. So, would you mind getting Abby's pajamas on her and meeting me in the upstairs living room?"

"Ooh, a surprise! What is it?" Pam giggled excitedly as she picked Abby up from her spot on the floor.

"You'll find out soon enough. And no peeking!" Jim warned her. He kissed her quickly on the forehead before trotting up the stairs and disappearing into the rec room.

Pam looked after him curiously and bounced the little girl on her hip. "What is Daddy up to?" she asked.

Abby shook her head slyly and tried to wiggle herself free from Pam's arms.

"Ohhh, so Daddy's sworn you to secrecy huh?" Pam ticked Abby's sides playfully and toted her up the stairs to her bedroom. "So which ones are we wearing? Frogs or polka dots?" she held up two pairs of pajamas and watched as Abby reached for the blue pajamas with the pink and yellow polka dots.

"Dots it is then!" Pam changed Abby's diaper and slipped her into the pajamas. "Okay, get your blankie and let's go to the living room."

Abby picked up the pink and white blanket that she'd had since birth and dragged it down the hallway with Pam in tow. The blanket was abandoned soon after Abby stepped in the room when she spotted her play kitchen in the corner. While the child played with her toys, Pam's mind began to roam to what Jim's surprise might be. She was so distracted, she barely noticed when Jim slipped out of the rec room.

"Okay. Everything's ready," he announced. "Right this way milady." Jim toted Abby over to the door and stood in front of it dramatically.

"Are you ready?" he asked Pam.

"Absolutely. Let's see it!" she squealed excitedly.

"Okay, 1, 2, 3!" Jim opened the door with a flourish and stepped inside the room. He watched Pam's face light up as she entered.

"Jim! It's amazing!" she exclaimed. The rec room had been completely cleaned out and remodeled into a fabulous art studio. Shelves had been built along the length of one whole wall to house all of Pam's art supplies and completed projects. Some of her own paintings had been framed and hung on the walls. In one corner sat a large drafting table adorned with various kinds of brushes and pencils. By the window that looked out to the terrace, a tall wooden easel was positioned with a perfect view of the wooded backyard. A large white drawing pad sat on the easel with the word "Surprise!" painted in red across it. "When did you do all of this?" she asked breathlessly.

"Most of it was done last weekend when you went to New York for the campus tour. It took most of the day Saturday just to move all of Abby's toys to the office downstairs. I never use it anyway so I figured we could make that her playroom. I've been working on some finishing touches on the studio here and there," Jim answered. "So I take it you like the first part?"

"The first part? There's more?!"

Jim nodded slowly. "Go out on the terrace."

Pam gave him a questioning stare before making her way through the glass door. The terrace was illuminated by several candles and torches Jim had positioned around its perimeter. In the far corner was another easel. This one was partially covered by a white sheet, preventing Pam from seeing the art that sat on it. "Can I look under there?" she asked, gesturing toward the sheet.

"Only if you're 100 percent prepared for what's underneath it," Jim answered coyly.

Pam raised one eyebrow at him curiously and cautiously crossed the terrace to stand in front of the easel. Taking a deep breath, she quickly whipped the sheet from it. Her throat emitted a deep gasp as soon as she saw what was underneath it.

Another white drawing pad was set up on this one. On the bottom of the paper were two handprints. The larger one was blue and obviously belonged to Jim while the smaller pink one was clearly from Abby. Scrawled across the paper in familiar handwriting were the words that brought tears to her eyes.

_Pam, will you marry us?_

Pam spun around quickly to find Jim down on one knee while Abby sat on the other, holding up the open ring box.

When she didn't respond for a moment, Jim took that as his cue to speak. "Pam, I know this seems kind of sudden. I know we really haven't talked about the future that much but this just feels right. And if you're not ready, I guess I can accept that. But I just want you to know that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And I think I'm speaking for Abby too when I say that it just doesn't seem right to not have you as part of our family. So, in the interest of not being lame and using a note to ask you, I'm going to ask you right here, right now. Pam Beesly, will you make me the happiest man, and Abby the happiest little girl, in the world and be my wife?"

Pam eagerly wiped the tears from her cheeks and knelt down in front of the man and the little girl that she loved more than anything else in the world. "Yes, of course I will!" her voice came out choked and emotional. "Yes!" she tried again, this time with more success.

Jim tightened his hold on Abby and pulled Pam securely into his arms. "I love you," she whispered into his ear.

"I love you too. More than you will ever know! And I promise, I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving it to you." Jim reached into the box that Abby still held and removed the ring from its resting place. Pam held out her left hand and Jim slipped the ring onto it.

"Perfect," Pam commented as she admired the ring on her hand. "Just like our family." She threw her arms around Jim's neck and kissed him passionately, only pulling away when she felt Abby tugging on her skirt.

"And you!" she exclaimed, sweeping the little girl up for a hug. "How excited are you to be the prettiest flower girl ever?" Abby smiled and settled her head sleepily on Pam's shoulder.

"I think we should get our beautiful flower girl to bed," Jim observed. "I'll just wait until in the morning for her bath."

Jim reached out to take the little girl but Pam held up her hand to halt him. "No, I'll do it. I could use the practice," she smiled back at him. Jim kissed Abby goodnight and watched as Pam toted her off toward the nursery. He smiled as he realized that soon, Pam would be living in this house permanently. She would be his wife, the woman who shared his bed and hopefully be the mother of his future children. She was already a wonderful mother to Abby. His grin widened as he pictured her feeding a tiny infant while watching Abby practice for her dance recital. He imagined summer days playing with their children in the backyard. Suddenly, it seemed like everything he had ever wanted was within reach. In the midst of all the pain and suffering they had endured, Jim and Pam had survived and found their way back to each other. Even through the hardships, they had been bound together by a force neither of them could understand. That was a tie that would never be broken. They were finally home.

* * *

A/N: Epilogue still to come! I promise this time!


	23. Epilogue

A/N: Here it is! The final installment! I hope you guys have enjoyed this long ride as much as I have. It's definitely been an experience! Reviews are still adored even though I have no ransom for them anymore. LoL! J/K!

waiting4love - Yes, I will say that a happy ending is definitely better than the finale ending. I can't wait to see what they do in the new season!  
JinxCokeJAM - Thank you so much for the wonderful compliment! I'm glad you enjoyed it all!  
Moony - I don't want your brain to explode! LoL! I'm glad you love the mushy fluff as much as I do!  
princessdeleon - I figured Abby needed to play an important role in the the proposal since she was part of the family. I love the gushy cuteness.  
Mrs. Fitzgerald - I'm a little sad too but I like the way it's ended. Everything kind of comes full circle here  
MrsBigTuna - Sorry! I love the Kleenex moments! Hehe! Hopefully you'll like the way it ends  
Little Sparrow - Abby's been such a pivotal part of their lives, I couldn't imagine not writing her into the proposal  
JimPamJAM - I was already ahead of you on that one! Hopefully this chapter does what you were hoping for  
jgrrl - Yay for big dumb grins! LoL  
ktface - Thank you so much for all the compliments! I hope you like the real epilogue as much as the fake one!

* * *

Jim sat nervously in the living room. His baby girl was finally coming back home. Now well into her junior year of college at UCLA, he hated the fact that she was living on the other side of the country. He remembered the long conversations between himself, Pam and Abby.

_Jim, Pam and Abby sat in the living room. College brochures were scattered all around. _

_Okay," Jim began. "Your mom and I have talked it over and we've made a decision. Now before we tell you our answer, you have to promise you won't say anything until we're done explaining. Do you understand?"_

_Abby nodded her head in resignation. "Lay it on me," she answered._

"_Okay. We know that you really want to go to UCLA. We've looked over everything you've given us and we have to agree that it is a great school. We're not going to rule it out completely but for this year we're going to say no."_

_Abby looked into her dad's eyes in defeat but stayed true to her word and didn't say anything._

_Pam took over where Jim had left off. "Honey, we know we always told you to follow your dreams and we still believe that. But we also want to do what's best for you. Your first year of college can be really stressful and it's going to be your first time on your own. We just don't want you to be on the other side of the country and realize that you took on too much at one time."_

"_And there's the matter of your brothers and sister," Jim continued. "You've done enough homework on this to know that it's twice as expensive to go to an out of state school. And for your first year, you're just going to be taking your general education courses anyway. Those are the same anywhere. We really don't see the point in spending twice as much for the exact same education just because it's on the west coast. Hopefully one day your siblings will want to go to college and while we've never really struggled with finances in this family, we're not made of money either. Sending four kids to college isn't easy on anyone. We're just trying to think logically in the grand scheme of things."_

_Pam picked up once more. "Abby, if you can get most your general courses out of the way at a local school and maintain your GPA, we'll definitely seriously consider UCLA for next fall. We just don't want to throw you into the deep end before your ready." _

"_Do you want to say anything? Yell at us? Throw something at us?" Jim asked, trying to lighten the mood and bring a smile to his daughter's somber face._

_Abby managed a weak smile. "I can imagine you already know that this is not the answer I wanted but I see where you're coming from. And as long as you will honestly consider letting me go there after this year, then I guess I'll take what I can get. I promise, I'll prove to you guys that I can handle it. And you're right; you did always tell me to follow my dreams. And I'm not backing down until I get there."_

"_That's my girl," Jim said, putting his arm affectionately around Abby. "Now, why don't you go through some of these brochures and find out what you can do to start proving us wrong?"_

A thoughtful smile crossed Jim's face. She had definitely proved them wrong. Abby had handled her first year of college with such maturity and finesse that she had managed to earn herself a sizeable scholarship to UCLA for the next year. They couldn't say no after that. He couldn't help but notice just how much Abby had turned out like Karen. She had the same feisty personality and driving ambition as her mother. Jim knew Karen would be proud if she could see their daughter today.

"Jim!" a voice called from the kitchen, pulling him from his thoughts. He wandered into the kitchen to find Pam hanging up the phone.

"Brooke just called. She said Abby's plane just landed so they'll be home as soon as they can," Pam informed him, a lilt of excitement in her voice.

Abby's sixteen-year-old sister Brooke had begged and pleaded for days for her parents to let her pick Abby up from the airport. She and her sister had a close bond, despite the five year age difference between them. Eighteen-year-old Camden had agreed to ride along to supervise his younger sister.

"We've got some great kids. You know that?" Jim asked his wife affectionately. After being married for almost twenty years, Jim still fell more in love with Pam every single day. Their wonderful family was the center of his whole world.

Shortly after Camden was born, Pam had been offered a job as a graphic design engineer at a Philadelphia based company. After much discussion and thought, the family had packed up and moved to Philly to start a new chapter of their lives. Jim had found a temporary job as the assistant basketball coach at the local high school. The head coach had retired the next year, leaving the job wide open for Jim to fill in. Now in his fifteenth year of coaching the team, he could barely remember his time as a paper salesman. He could now truly and honestly say that he loved his job.

While in Philadelphia, their family had continued to grow with Brooke being born, followed three years later by their youngest son Connor. The big family they had always dreamed of was finally theirs.

"Speaking of our kids," Pam began. "Where is Connor?"

"Last I saw him, he was deeply involved in a game of Madden. In fact, that's probably where he still is," Jim answered.

Pam rolled her eyes. "I swear, I'm going to throw out every gaming system in this house one day. You boys are so addicted to those things, it's borderline obsessive."

"He's learning deductive reasoning skills honey. It's good for him," Jim teased her.

"Well, I asked him about an hour ago to take out the garbage and as you can see…" she gestured toward the overflowing trash can in the kitchen.

"I'll handle it," he said, kissing his wife before jogging up the stairs to Connor's bedroom.

"Hey man!" Jim greeted his son as he entered his room. Out of all of the kids, Connor was most like Jim. He was laid-back and never let much of anything bother him. His sisters often despised him and his love of practical jokes, especially at their expense. "How's the team doing?" he asked.

"Pretty good," Connor answered, still not turning his attention away from the TV.

"Well, if you want to keep your great team, you have thirty seconds to save your game and go take out the trash like Mom asked you to. Otherwise your game is going to be missing an all-important power plug," Jim threatened, reaching toward the wall outlet.

"Aw, come on Dad! The game's almost over!" Connor protested.

"Twenty seconds now," Jim warned, wrapping his hand around the plug.

"Fine!" Connor jabbed at the buttons on his controller, saving the game before shutting down the system. "Are you happy?"

"Well, I would be if you'd lose the attitude," Jim scolded his son. "Just make sure it's gone before your sister gets home, would you? I don't want the first interaction you guys have to be a shouting match."

Connor rolled his eyes in defeat and shuffled down the stairs toward the kitchen. _He really is too much like me,_ Jim thought to himself before following his son downstairs.

Forty-five minutes later Jim, Pam, and Connor heard the front door clang open. "We're home!" Brooke announced.

"And surprisingly all in one piece!" Camden added, receiving a slap on the arm from his younger sister. Jim reached the front door just as Abby slipped in, rolling her large suitcase behind her.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, running to Jim's waiting arms. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too sweetie!" he said, pulling her more tightly to him.

Just then, Pam entered the now crowded foyer. "Abby!" she squealed with excitement, reaching out to wrap the dark haired girl into her own arms.

"Hey Mom!" Abby answered back, wrapping her arms around Pam. "I actually have a surprise for you guys. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh trust me, they'll mind," Brooke responded.

Jim and Pam exchanged a worried glance. "What is it sweetie?" Jim finally asked.

Abby ducked out the front door, emerging a moment later with a tall blonde-haired guy behind her. "Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend Josh Keller. He's spending the summer here in Philly for an internship and I told him we could give him a ride to where he's staying later. I hope that's alright."

Pam glanced nervously at her husband, who now appeared to be white as a ghost. "Abby," she began, "this is all rather sudden. Um, can your dad and I see you in the living room?"

Abby followed behind her parents, keeping a careful distance between them.

"So, you have a boyfriend now?" Jim asked, trying to keep his emotions under control. Abby had brought home a few guys while in high school. One guy in particular had shown up on more than one occasion but was subsequently banned from the house when Jim caught him and Abby making out on the couch one evening. She had sworn she would never forgive him for that one. Now, here she was bringing a guy home with her from college.

Jim and Pam watched a smile cross Abby's face as she nodded. "He's really great. He's going into his senior year, just like me. He's a year older though. He took a year off college to help open a school in Argentina before sophomore year. He's really smart and funny. I promise you guys are going to love him!"

Jim scoffed loudly, receiving a rough elbowing from his wife in return.

"Abby, I'm sure he's a nice guy but it would have been nice to have a little warning about this. How long have you two been together?" Pam asked.

"Since New Years. We were just friends to start out with. New Years Eve we realized that we were both going to the same party so we just decided to go together. By the time the ball dropped, something had changed. It was like we all of a sudden we were connecting on a totally different level. I really can't explain it."

Pam studied the look on her daughter's face. It was a look she had seen before. Glancing over Abby's shoulder at the photo resting on the nearby table, she finally recognized it. It was a picture of her and Jim on their wedding day. The look in her eyes in that photo matched the one in Abby's right now. Their daughter was in love. The hard part was going to be breaking it to Jim.

* * *

The summer passed quickly for their family. Jim and Connor had spent a week away at the high school basketball camp. Camden had spent a great majority of the summer visiting area colleges, trying to make his final decision about where to spend his freshman year. Brooke was working at the local community center, trying to save up money for her own car. And Abby spent at least part of every day with Josh. He was quickly becoming a familiar staple in their home. He joined them every Sunday for dinner and spent time with the family most Saturday afternoons. Even Jim was starting to warm up to the guy, despite the glaring daggers Josh received if he so much as touched Abby. One Sunday night, Jim and Pam lay in bed letting the day wind down in each other's arms. Pam was settled in the crook of Jim's arm, her fingers lightly skimming over his bare chest.

"So what do you think of this Josh guy?" he finally asked. It was the first time Jim had made any voluntary mention of the boy who had stolen his daughter's heart. Pam looked at it as a step in the right direction.

"I think he's really nice," she responded. "Abby certainly thinks very highly of him. And he's definitely won over the rest of the kids."

Jim nodded in agreement, recalling the hours Josh had spent playing basketball with Camden and Connor and discussing the latest music with Brooke. He really had made quite an impression on everyone. "Hmm…"

"Jim," Pam began, waiting until he focused all of his attention on her. "I hate to be the one to break it to you but our daughter is in love."

Jim winced noticeably. "I was hoping that was just my imagination."

"We've got to let her go sometime honey."

"And I thought sending her away to college was bad."

* * *

The weekend before Abby was to return to UCLA, Pam had decided to take her and Brooke shopping to spend some girl time together before the end of summer. Camden and Connor had driven to Scranton the week before to help their grandparents with some household maintenance and were catching a concert just outside of Philly on their way back. Jim was busying himself around the house, doing some minor repairs when he heard a knock at the front door. He wiped his hands on a nearby towel and went to open the door. "Josh!" he remarked with surprise to find the young man on his front porch. "Um, Abby's out with her mom and sister. They should be back in about an hour."

Josh shuffled his feet nervously and stuffed his hands deep in his pockets. "Actually sir, I came here to see you."

Jim froze in his tracks, staring blankly at the man that stood before him. "Oh," he finally choked out. "Um, okay. Why don't you have a seat in the living room and I'll be right in?" Jim debated offering Josh something to drink but deciding against it. If this boy wanted to traipse into their lives uninvited, Jim was going to make sure he was as uncomfortable as possible.

After a few minutes of stalling, Jim finally wandered into the living room. He found Josh gazing at the collection of pictures on the mantle. He had one clutched in his left hand, studying it intently. Jim moved to stand behind him and noticed the picture he was holding. It was a picture of Jim and Abby on Christmas Day when she was just two years old. She was sitting on Jim's lap, gazing up into his eyes with a wide smile. Jim's eyes and smile shone right back at her. "She's something else isn't she?" Jim asked, reaching around to take the photo from Josh's hand.

"Yes sir, she is. I've never met a woman quite like her."

Jim stared at him quizzically. It was the first time he had actually heard someone other than Pam refer to his little girl as a woman. The thought was a little unsettling for him. "Why don't we have a seat?" Jim suggested, gesturing toward the couch.

The men each took a seat on opposite ends of the couch. Both sat in silence for a few moments before Jim finally broke it. "So, you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Josh nodded solemnly. "Yes sir. First of all, I want you to know that you're daughter is the most amazing person I've ever met. She's really funny and warm and just…" Josh trailed off with a wistful look on his face. "She's wonderful and I don't see how I managed to get through life without knowing her."

Jim offered a tight-lipped smile. He now knew without a doubt. He was about to lose the position of the love of his little girl's life.

Josh continued on. "I understand that Abby is your first baby girl. I can't imagine how it feels to watch her grow up and move away only to come back with some guy you've never met. But I need you to know that I love her. I never imagined I could feel this way about anyone but I do. She's everything to me. And I know that I'm never going to be good enough for her, especially not in your eyes. She deserves much better than me. I'm sure there are other guys out there who can give her so much more than I can. But I can assure you that there's no man on earth who can love her as much as I do. And I promise to do everything I can to prove that."

Jim gazed at the young man intently. He knew what was about to happen but he needed to hear the words to make it believable. "What are you saying, Josh?"

He watched Josh take a deep breath. "Mr. Halpert, I love Abby and I would love nothing more that to spend every day of the rest of my life with her. I would like to ask if you would allow me to marry your daughter."

Jim inhaled sharply. He knew it was coming but the force of the words still hit him like a punch in the stomach. "Would you excuse me for a moment?" he choked out. Jim stood up from the couch and wandered down the hallway. He knew the suspense was probably killing Josh but he had to admit, it felt good to let him stew for a while. Before he realized where he was, Jim was standing in front of his closet, pulling a box from the top shelf. He let his hand trace lovingly over the top of the box before removing the top. Inside laid various mementos of his life with Karen. It had been his intention to give the box to Abby when she graduated college and started a new life of her own. Jim reached into the corner of the box and withdrew the item he was looking for. He tucked the box back into the closet and made his way back to where Josh was still waiting in the living room. The young man looked up expectantly as Jim entered the room. Without a word, Jim walked over to Josh, fished the object out of his pocket and pushed it into the other man's hands.

Josh studied the small velvet box carefully before cracking it open to reveal an exquisite diamond ring.

"It was her mother's engagement ring," Jim answered the unasked question. "I was saving it for her to have when she met the right guy. I guess that guy is you."

A broad smile crossed Josh's face and Jim could swear he saw unshed tears behind his eyes. "Thank you, sir. I promise I will be the best man I can be for your daughter."

"Don't make me regret this," Jim said with a warning tone. He surprised even himself by clapping Josh on the back in a friendly hug. "I guess now would be the time to say welcome to the family. Now get out of here before my daughter realizes what you're up to. If I know anything about the Halpert women it's that they love romantic surprises."

Josh actually let out a small laugh. "Yes sir. And I will do my best to make sure that this is a decision you never regret."

Jim watched as Josh exited the house and finally let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. His little girl was getting married. "Life sure is full of surprises," he mumbled to himself. "Wait until Pam hears about this."

* * *

A/N: Thanks so much to all my loyal readers and reviewers! Thanks for all the plot ideas and "constructive compliments"! You guys are amazing!


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